vibrant & beautiful

I love it when this tree is in full bloom. 

Its color is amazing to look at.

One sunny morning, this is what I saw and I was in amazed.

Recently, Battle Creek experienced a tornado and our city was hit pretty hard, although nothing like in Joplin or Springfield.

This tree was hit and a couple of others. It was pulled halfway out of the ground and my husband is trying to save it. He pulled it back with his truck and  put stakes down to hold it in place. I've noticed it is on a slight angle again. 

We'll keep working with it. 

Our power was out for 5 days... yes 5. It wasn't easy, but with the help of friends, we did it! 

Lamentations 3:22-23

New International Version (NIV)

 22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
   for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness.

I'm so thankful for God's wonderful mercy. Have a great Sunday!

'Thursday Thirteen'

What’s the Thursday 13?
The Thursday 13 is a weekly meme with a simple theme: each Thursday you blog a list of 13 things. What kind of things? Any kind! Just come up with a list theme and run with it. One week you may list “13 things on my mind” and maybe the next week you’d list “my top 13 favorite movies”.  Back in early 2007, Janet came up with the idea of going through the alphabet;  “13 Things I Love that begin with the letter A”, etc.  That gives you 26 weeks of ideas! Each new 13 will be posted at approximately 8PM EST every Wednesday evening.

Visit here to join this meme.

My list : 13 Things I am looking forward to this summer:

1. Our friends from England coming to visit for 2 weeks at the end of July. Phil, Jane, Amy, and Megan will be flying over on July 29th. We are taking a few day trips in Michigan and  will be relaxing by the pool just taking it easy. After that we'll be heading out west to Yellowstone followed by the Grand Canyon. (Not looking forward to all the driving!) On the way, our family plans on seeing Mount Rushmore and the Little House on the Prairie museum among other places. I can't wait to see the Savage family!! 

2. Pool Dayz: Every Tuesday I open my pool to friends from 10 - 3. Last year we had perfect weather just about every week soaking in the sun, swimming, eating together, and just connecting. 

3. Paint projects. Yes, I said paint projects. I love finding things at garage sales and Goodwill and fixing them up. 

4. Going to garage sales.

5. Having some of my family from New Jersey come for a weekend visit in just 2 weeks. I can't wait. A few of our cousins from Indiana will be coming up to join us.

6. Taking it easy and not doing school.

7. Enjoying barbecues as a family. My husband grills some mean food.  

8. Reading on the front porch and having quiet time with the Lord on my back deck.

9. Going to South Haven for beach days.

10. Spending time with my girlfriends.

11. Cooking and baking with the kids. 

12. Playing volleyball out front.

13. Going for walks after dinner with my groom.

How 'bout you? What are you looking forward to this summer?

new kid on the block

Charlie is our new addition!

We went to Indiana to my nephew Will's open house and came home with a puppy.

My brother-in-law, Tim, sure knows how to get rid of a litter of 8 puppies! It's as though the open house was for them because everyone couldn't keep their paws off of those pups. There was always someone holding them and people kept crowding around their pen. 

My cousin, Jill, who is married to Tim, and Tim's my husband's brother, (Go figure that one out)*, had been praying that our family would take one. 

He is just as cute as can be, but he sure has a ton of energy first thing in the morning. 

If you have any puppy training tips, I'd love to hear them. 

In the meantime, have a wonderful day. 

*A couple of cousins are married to brothers. :-)

Braaten has some really great friends. She has beautiful friends in England (Amy, Megan, Sophie, Zoe, Ellie, & Emelia). And Amy & Megan, who are sisters, are even coming to visit us this summer for 2 weeks. How awesome is that!

She has beautiful friendships here, too. When we moved back, she met Renae and their friendship began quickly. Now everyone thinks they look like twins. They have so much in common except for a quirky nickname. Pickle. Yep, that's what everyone calls Renae. hehe 

What a blessing to have friends of all kinds. Braaten has the privilege of having many (Claire M., Claire B., Hannah F., Hannah W., Nicole, Ellie, Sydney, Megan F., Megan H., and the list goes on and on.) 

Thank you girls for loving my girl.  

Five Question Friday!

I tried to post this on Friday, but it didn't work for some reason. I thought I would put it up today anyway. :-)

Mama M from "My Little Life" started this blog carnival and it's easy peasy to put a post up so I love it. And you can get to know a little more about me. 

Rules for Five Question Friday: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then watch for the linky to appear on Friday morning and LINK UP! Oh, andhaving fun is a MUST!

Questions for Friday, May 19th: (Special thanks to @joleneslavik, @ThisDaddys_Blog,@deannajw, Christine, and Sandy for their question suggestions! I would love to link YOU in a future 5QF, so just c'mon over to my community to offer up your best question suggestions, or just watch for my Twitter shout out for questions and@5crookedhalos me using hashtag #5QF!)

1. Do you and your spouse go to bed at the same time?

We've always gone to bed together until recently. We used to and now I am tired sooner and my man likes a little veg time in front of the t.v. We don't watch the same things always so I retreat to our bedroom and read and sometimes even pull out my dvd player and watch a chick flick. 

2. A question for the ladies...What kind of facial hair do you like on your man?

I love Shawn's mustache and goatee. He wears it very well! When he shaves it he looks a lot younger, but I still prefer him with it. 

3. What's the worst vacation you've ever taken?
This question is stumping me. I'm not sure I have ever had a bad vacation. OK, I got it! I just thought of something. When we first moved to England, we drove, yes drove, all the way to Italy. Believe me, our English friends still think we're nuts for driving and not flying. We wanted to see France and Switzerland on the way, so what can we say? Anyway... on the way back from Italy we stopped in France just outside of Paris to stay in a camper that was ferrr-reezing! It was so chilly, the propane tank was empty, and we had no heat. We couldn't wait to get out of that place! Overall, though, it was a fabulous vacation.

4. What's the first-ever blog you followed?

The blog I followed first was the blogger that encouraged me to blog in the first place. Her name is Pam, she graduated high school with my husband and her blog is:  You're Gonna Miss This. I am really thankful that she talked me into it. 

5. Do you enjoy amusement parks?

I most certainly do. I used to love roller coasters, but I think I'm a little chicken now. As I've aged, it just feels scarier to be so out of control.