Things I'm Lovin' Right Now

~I'm loving our new house, even if it's a little unfinished! I love the majestic evergreens surrounding us, the expansive blue sky (except this week it's been a wet sky) above us, and the wildlife around us.
~I'm loving being farther away from traffic and bustle and closer to the countryside. I'm spending way less money on gas these days!
~I'm loving being only 12 minutes from church and having much more encouraging interaction with our church family.
~I'm loving the summertime and opportunities to be outside. I've recently been taking up tennis again! There's a tennis court in our neighborhood just around the corner.
~I'm loving being closer to friends! It's so much easier to have friends zip over or to zip over to their place.
~I'm loving the fact that God is Jehovah-Jireh. My income has been pretty low lately and I was concerned about how I was going to pay my bills this month. But I decided to take God at His word and ask Him to provide. Then I waited. Well, the money has dribbled in and today I paid my last bill with sufficient money left over!
~I'm loving the important lessons that God has been patiently teaching me lately -- lessons in trust, joy, and surrender, to name a few.

Concert Pics

These are pics from a concert I did with my friends Nathan and Chris on July 1.

Happenings

Life has slowly been returning to "normal," whatever that is. My mom returned from her New Hampshire sojourn to visit my grandma last Wednesday. She was supposed to be here Tuesday night, but flights were delayed or cancelled and she had to spend the night at Dulles. The house continues to make progress, albeit slowly. This morning at 7:30 the doorbell rang. Fortunately my dad was here because it turned out to be the elevator people all ready to install the elevator we'd never ordered! We have a shaft for one, but weren't planning on installing it for quite awhile because it's an expensive proposition. But without us ordering, and without them telling us they were coming, they showed up! My dad said they could go ahead and put it in if they want, but he wouldn't be able to pay for awhile. They agreed. :-) So that's the hubub for the house today.

On Saturday my parents, Lori, Jessie, Zoe, and I went to Victoria! It was partly just for vacation, and partly to celebrate Lori's 35th birthday, which is tomorrow. She and the girls spent the night before, then we left at the crack of dawn to make the hour and a half drive to the ferry. We were almost there when Lori suddenly remembered that she'd left vital pieces of I.D. in her car which she needed for the border. So...my mom and I ended up getting on the ferry while they and my dad turned around to go back for the papers and then come back for a 12:45 ferry. That was a bummer. My mom and I ended up having high tea at the Empress hotel, which is something I've been wanting to do again. It was so lovely and restful. We enjoyed the little shops and gardens downtown. When the rest of them came, we wandered around some more, and took a little boat ride around the harbor. Since this was my first time there with a digital camera, I got a little camera happy. :-) You can see a bunch of pictures if you have access to my Facebook, but if not, here are a few to give you an idea of the lovely day.

Summer at last

After a cold, un-summery June, summer has at last hit Washington! It's been in the 80s this week and felt absolutely mahvelous. And fortunately, our new house stays fairly cool.

These past few months have been a big rollercoaster (I hate rollercoasters), and it would seem that life is perhaps quieting down. And we're coming off the rollercoaster, which has it's own issues. Or maybe I just have emotional issues. But I won't go into that. :-) Sometimes life stinks, but you gotta hang on and believe that God's still in charge and He is supremely good.

Last Sunday night my church hosted a concert in which I sang and played the harp, and my friends Chris (piano) and Nathan (voice) joined me. I'm always more nervous performing for my own church for some reason, but I think it turned out okay. Actually, a lot of church families were away, and there were a number of visitors, so it all evened out. Chris and I have three more scheduled concerts coming up.

We weren't sure what we were going to do for the 4th, and kept casting around in our minds for something inspiring and fun, but at last a family from church invited us over to celebrate with them and a few other families. We enjoyed a good old-fashioned barbecue meal and plenty of laughter and talking. I was too lazy to take part in any games, but was content to chat with the "adults." Boy, I must be getting old. I'm going to be 28 in a month! Aaaagh!!

But, as these pictures of me prove, I don't look too decrepit yet.