Fall back.

Good morning bloggers. (:

I am kind of procrastinating getting to my house work this morning so I figured it would be a perfect time to recap our summer, yes the past summer that we slacked terribly at blogging about. I'm going to see how much I can cram into one post for you with out being over whelming. I seriously just grabbed my calander off the wall, sat down on the couch and I'm ready to share.

Memorial day to Labor day, here we go! ;)

My best friend Rhea's wedding. Rhea's been my best friend since preschool. She's an only child so I've always just been a part of the family. I was the maid-of-honor in her pink, blue and green wedding. Here are a few photos.

Their wedding was Memorial day, the last weekend in May, bringing us into June. I have three daycare kids that occasionaly come stay with Erik and I. They're turkeys. (: They're so full of life and we love them. Here are a couple photos.

 

My birthday was the first week in June. Erik bought me a hammock for my birthday, idk that I have any photos I'll have to work on that. It's fabulous and I love it. (: We had an auction at my grandparents house, my dad's parents, they're both..isn't it funny how we use nice words to describe death, if I say they're both dead it sounds bad, but it's the truth so we try to fancy it up with deceased or passed away..either way, you get it. They no longer live in the same world I do. Maybe that's why dead is such a harsh word, because really it's dishonest. They aren't dead, they just aren't living here anymore. I'm happy with that conclusion. SO. We had an auction to sell all of their belongings and their home. It was a hard day for our family, full of bitter sweet and memories. I took so many photos but they're on my dads camera so I'll have to share another time. I think they had 40 shovels and 38 bikes and 24 sewing machines. Seriously, that's how they rolled it. They didn't have just one of anything, they had 13. My dad and I signed up for auction numbers, I think auctions are fabulous, like large garage sales, if you don't know I live for garage sales now you do. We always used to go to auctions with my dad when we were younger, he always asks for number 52, I chose 21. I remember the first time I got to bid for something at an auction there was this old box shaped like 2 dice (I know, more than one is die, but I want you to know what I'm talking about. Ha) with a flip up lid on the top in with a bunch of other things and my dad asked the auctioner if he'd sell the die seperate for me. You can do that if you just want one thing out of the box and just bid for it instead of everything else. They come out with a higher number and if nobody bids they go down. I was so excited when he came out with $10 I bid right away and my dad was upset I didn't wait for him to come down to $5. Ha, but I won it at that and to this day it's in my living room. Back to our summer. I bid and won on a couple old wash boards, a bunch of my grandma's crafty/sewing things which came in boxes with some odds and ends jewelry and things like that. I also wanted A sewing machine as in ONE but came home with three. Ha, I bid on one and when I won it the auctioner said Katie, take those two with it. Either way they're old and fabulous, I just need to get to work on them. When they sold the house it was a sad moment for our family. Such is life, 'eh?

Next. I did wedding hair for a friend of mine Amy. Her and her husband Paul got married at a summer camp they met counsling at. It was a perfect weekend. I LOVE CAMP. If you didn't go to summer camp, find a way to do it. Love, love, love. The night before we had a bond fire and did some star gazing, it was the best. The setting was beautiful! Here are some photos.

I'm for sure not giving the events of our summer the credit they deserve. But if I don't zoom through this I know I won't get them done. The following weekend I went to Denver with my parents for a wedding, the daughter of my parents' friends. I had a good trip with them. Colorado was beautiful. I got to see where I was born, the apartment I first lived in and the house we lived in before we moved to MT. It was fun to see my friends Melissa and Brandon who I've grown up with, my parents' friends' kids!

We spend the 4th of July in Worland, WY with our friends Bret and Emily Younts. They're friends of Erik's from high school and I'm SO glad we got to spend the holiday with them. We had the best time, we always enjoyed visiting Bret before their wedding and this was the first time we've been to visit them since they've been married and Emily moved in. I'm SO glad I got to spend the weekend getting to know Emily. I seriously adore her and I'm so glad we got the chance to get some together time in.

 

In July I also did hair for a wedding of two friends of mine from high school. Curtis and Heidy MacGrady. I did hair for the bride and most of the bridesmaids. The bride and groom didn't want to see each other pre-ceramony so he's not in this photo.

Our summer was seriously loaded with weddings. And FRIENDS. (: I know I've missed SO much this is all I have time for this morning, in my next post I'll try and update you on all of our in home projects.

LOVE YOU SO MUCH.



Only the Good Die Young

I found this story today while browsing pinterest and just wanted to share, if you click the photo I've linked it to the original source. LOVE YOU.

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish wolfhound named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn’t do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker’s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker’s death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.

Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, “I know why.”

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I’d never heard a more comforting explanation. He said, “People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life – like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?”

The six-year-old continued, “Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.”

our CRAZY life

we clearly suck at writing blogs. ha. katie doesn't know that i'm doing this, so maybe a comment or two will push her to blog a little more and keep you all (all 6 of our follower) in tune with our lives and what we have going on.

love you all, and i hope you are all doing great.

erik

This one's for the lovers...

GOODMORNINGFROMT_!

E_cept the computer that I'm on doesn't have the letter that needs to go right here:

Te_as
Rela_
E_actly
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw_yz

(: Get it?
So good morning from Te_as! (:

Ha. Two of my best friends (that are twin sisters) from high school, Theresa and Christine, live here and one of them, Christine, is graduating from the University of North Te_as on Saturday with degrees in Criminal Justice and Sociology. Since I haven't been to visit them since they moved here I was so e_cited to get to come spend the week with them. Erik and I each had prior arrangements for last weekend with each of our families, so he is with his family in Durango, CO and will fly into Dallas on Wednesday. (: I can't wait for him to be here.

I don't have time to share much more about us right now. I did want to let you know, last night I got to go see The Band Perry, for freeeee! (: I have a friend from when I was in school in Fargo that lives here as well. I was so e_cited to get to spend some time with her while down here and she heard yesterday on the radio there was a free concert in Dallas if we went online to sign up for tickets. Of couse, we did! I got to go with Megan, Theresa and Theresa's friend Emily who just flew in yesterday to spend the rest of the week with us! (: The Band Perry was seriously so amazing. I've always loved their music and their morals, but seeing them in concert was seriously so amazing. They sound better live! There are so many bands/artists you can't say that about, but they were AMAZING! I wanted to share a song I heard for the first time last night.

"This one's for the lovers." --Kimberly Perry

WE LOVE YOU. (:

Home.

Good morning!

I saw a quote yesterday that I passed up, and now that I'm trying to find it for you of course I can't, I'm sure I'll stumble upon it after I post this. Ha. Either way, I couldn't get it out of my head, because I couldn't decide if I loved it or hated it.

Home is the place or person you keep coming back to.

If I find it and I'm off on my wording I'll let you know, but I'm close to sure that's it. At first I loved it. The fact that they're saying home can be so much more than a place, but a someone. Then I started to think on the people or place that I "keep coming back to" and it reminded me of the negative pieces of my past, negative relationships that were so hard to navigate away from, because..I kept coming back. This instantly had me thinking about To Write Love on Her Arms. Do you know it? It's an anti suicide movement. I think it's awesome and beautiful and every positive adjective you could come up with. If you have the time explore their website. Either way, they have a page on their website titled Vision. I could seriously read the vision of TWLOHA over and over and over and over and over..and not get tired of it. I don't think what they had to say could have been worded more perfectly. There's a place in there vision where they say "We believe that everyone can relate to pain, that all of us live with questions, and all of us get stuck in moments.  You need to know that you're not alone in the places you feel stuck." Gahh, going there to find this one mini quote for you seriously makes me want to post their whole vision right here for you. Maybe in another blog. (: Ha. Pleeeease go read it. Awesome! But this quote, the places and faces (yeah, yeah people) we keep coming back to, instantly reminded me of where TWLOHA says and all of us get stuck in moments. Yes!

I think the things that are worst for us are the things we seem to keep coming back to, don't you think? Addictions, bad relationships, etc. Maybe they're not the things we choose to keep coming back to, but the things we're stuck on all the same. Maybe you haven't been stuck in the same way someone else has, but is there something you've ever been stuck on that you can relate to? I feel like it's so easy to judge when someone else is in a negative place, we're so quick to ask why don't they just quit, why don't they just leave. It's seems simple when you aren't wrapped up in that place, but would it seem simple if you were right in the middle of it?

Sometimes, as heartbreaking as it is, the negatives in our lives become our constants. Even though we know they're no good for us, they're the one thing we "keep coming back to", because it's what we know and what we understand. Even when it's the last thing we want, when we we feel like we have a loss of control in all other areas, that's the thing we're on top of. People always question, why don't they just leave, why don't they just quit, there's your why. Because even if it seems SO crazy to you from the outside, maybe from the inside, that's the one normal thing that they think they have.

If there are things that you're stuck on, things that you can't seem to break free from. I promise there's a way. That they don't have to be home for you, just because you keep coming back.

At the end of the day, I don't think home is the place or person I keep coming back to, I think home is the place or person I choose not to leave. And maybe it takes choosing to leave to realize what home is to you, but I don't think that means continually leaving so you can keep coming back. I believe home is where you're drawn to and probably where you're meant for.

Jesus is my home.

Montana is my home. Montana has sky. Montana has air and space. Montana has stars. Montana is a state of mind.

Erik is my home, not because I keep coming back to him, but because he's the one I don't ever want to come back to, because he's the one I don't ever want to lose or let go of, he's the one I choose not leave. Erik is my home because he's where I want to spend forever.

Tell us about your home?

We love you.

You make beautiful things out of us.

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately two thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After 3 minutes...

A middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later...

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes...

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes...

A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children.. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes...

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour...

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

 

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100. This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

The questions rasied: 

• In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
• Do we stop to appreciate it?
• Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context? 

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.

How many other things are we missing?

We love you so much.

Have the best weekend.

People were made to be loved.

Things were made to be used.

The reason the world is in chaos, is because things are being loved, and people used.

Once Upon a Summer...

Good morning blog lovers!

We clearly haven't checked it with you in so long, too long in fact. Our summer has been so go, go, go. We barely have time to breathe let alone blog. I appologize for neglecting you, but on some counts I'm un-sorry. On our list of priorities living is definitly up on blogging so as we've been slacking on this front we've been flourishing in the living category. We still love you. We'll try and work on keeping you up to date with us!

I don't have time to recap our eventful summer this morning, yes, I'm writing to you before work this morning. Ha. Hopefully, eventually we'll get to fill you in one week at a time on what we've been up to, more like one wedding and one baby at a time. Isn't that always how summers go. But I want to share with you a big lesson this summer's taught me.

In June I did hair for the wedding of Amy and Paul Ritcher. I wish I had so much more time to share on there wedding because it was seriously so great. They were married at a summer camp and it was just the best time! Either way, Sunday was Father's Day. So as I'm driving home in the am on one of ND's narrow two lane high ways. Because we're in America, I'm driving in the right lane ;) just as this semi goes to pull onto the high way coming the towards me, naturally taking a wide turn, pulling into my lane, I swerve around the semi, but don't have far to go on the mini shoulderless highway I'm driving on and run drivers side tire first over the large chunk of scorrio sitting in the middle of my lane. If you don't know what scorrio is it's a redish rock, found everywhere here, that's really bad for your tires! Ha. Needless to say, I was hoping some how I didn't have a flat tire, but I made it just over the next hill before I had to pull over.

I wasn't intimidated by the flat. Not a scarey situation for me. When I was in drivers ed we had a long list of take home and accomplish on your car tasks, i.e. checking the oil, filling the washer fluid. Changing a tire was a big one on the list that EVERYONE got to skimp on. I was upset with my dad because everyone else's parents were just signing their papers but my dad actually made me change the tire..without his help! Ha, but I survived. Also in high school I took a basic auto class. Yes, there was one other girl in the whole class, but we had the best time. Either way, I'm not the girl that's afraid of this kind of thing, so I got to work.

I have my jack in, the spare out, all of my tools and I don't skip a beat until..I can't get my lug nuts to budge. Seriously, not going anywhere. It's a new car, we haven't ever taken a tire off, so I'm thinking maybe that's the reasoning. My Miss Independent side is literally pleading with God that I will have the strength to do this. That I won't need someone to pull over and help me. That I won't have to be that cliqued girl that can't change her own tire. I'm so deteremined. I'm literally jumping on my tire iron and my lug nuts aren't going anywhere. Of course I'm embarressed by these actions, so everytime a car or truck drives by, which was quite frequently, I act like I'm not having issues. Ha. Rediculous, yes. (: The whole time praying, let me do this, I know what I'm doing, give me the strength. Prayer and prayer after prayer. Nothing. My lug nuts are practically welded on. So finally, I give in, I change my prayer. Well, I guess if you need to send me help I'd be okay with it. And literally the next pick up to drive by pulls over. And this guy, my dad's age, jumps out to ask if I need help.

I explain to him I've got everything under control, except..I'm having issues with my lug nuts, I can't get them off! He comes over, says yeah, they're a little tight and I'm sure he pretended to struggle a little so I wouldn't feel bad, as he turns the tire iron in the CORRECT DIRECTION and the lug nuts slide off. I'm not kidding. This whole time, jumping on my tire iron I was tightening my lug nuts. Yeah, yeah. Righty tighty, left loosy. Got it. Gahh. Ha. My explination is that when I got the jack out and was cranking it up I was turning to the right so when I moved to the lug nuts I just went with the same direction. Either way. I'm laughing so hard at  myself, in my head of course. As he has no issues at all. Ha. Of course I kept that detail to myself.

Either way, we had the nicest chat. He asked if I had father's day plans and I told him I was on my way home to spend the day with my dad. I asked if he was a father and he told me about his children in their 30's, that he just got off the phone with his son who lives on the East coast. After he got the lugs off he looked for my jack, already in place. (: Asked if I had a spare and then saw it was out. (: He was impressed and I'm proud to say I knew what I was doing (ish, ha). But I told him I could do the rest, that he didn't have to. He said don't you worry about it, I'll finish up, you need to get home to your dad. He was so great. He went on to tell me that he moved here from..how random..IDAHO. Ha. That a friend from church had gotten him in with a job out here, we got to chat about that awful Idaho economy and our crazy Mondak one. He finished everything up for me and smiled and told me to "have a blessed day."

He was seriously an answer to prayers. I wish I would have told him too. Though I'm sure he knew. Or asked for his name, or address so I could have thanked him more than the 32 times I did while he was changing my tire. I was going to catch his license plates number so I could (I swear I'm not creepy) but he was a driving a vehicle with state authorized plates, no number. God seriously sent me an angel to change my flat tire. I have no doubt about it. I spent the rest of my drive thanking Jesus for my father that made me learn to change a tire on my own, and for sending me someone else's father when I was trying to loosen the lug nuts in the wrong direction.

Our God is so good.

I had more to post here, but I want to get in a quick shout out to our great friend Trevor. Who checked in with us today, to make sure we were still around because we haven't posted in THAT long. Bleh. So. I'm going to cut myself off here so I can get this up and hopefully post again soon.

LOVEYOUSOMUCH.
Sweet Thursday!