Thanksgiving Thoughts

“Develop an attitude of gratitude,

and give thanks for everything that happens to you,

knowing that every step forward is a step toward

achieving something bigger and better

than your current situation.”

~ Brian Tracy

I love this quote... but some times have a hard time staying true to it.
Here are a few of the things I am thankful for today:

• For my wonderful husband Mike
• For my parents who love me and support my decisions
• For my extended family
• For my church families in Alaska and in Minnesota
• For all our friends
• For our Kitty, Java
• For the jobs that both Mike and I have
• For our new apartment
• For a warm place to sleep at night
• For the bounty of food we have in the cupboards
• For the warm clothes in our closets
• For our cars which get us to point A to B
• For our Sunday School kids who bring a smile to my face every week
• For the youth we work with on Wednesday nights who keep us young
• I am thankful for the time I had with Callen

Still with all this to be thankful for, I sit here and wonder why Callen is not here.  I miss him tons.  I wish he was here. I am thankful for all the great times I had with him.  His smile, his hugs, his love for life, his love for music and his love of God.  I am thankful for the difference Callen is still making, even when he is gone. 

Happy Thanksgiving... Love you Callen

Weekend Over Already

I think weekends go by way to fast. Mike is working nights this weekend, which means I see him for dinner and that is about it. Yesterday I went to the gym and had a scrapbooking get together last night. Today I went to church and then taught Sunday school, we had 6 kids this week. Then I went to Dairy Queen as the youth were having a fundraiser there. They got 10% of the profits of ALL sales between 11 and 2 today so really I HAD to go... haha. This afternoon I did a load of laundry and scrapbooked some more. We had some yummy spaghetti for dinner with yellow peppers, turkey, and onions. Not much else is going on. This week will be busy. I have a dead line at work Tuesday so I will be working late tomorrow. Then Thanskgiving is Thursday with Samantha and Hans.

I will leave you a few pictures of our kayaking adventure and trip to the cabin when we were in MN.

Exciting Stuff

Monday night Mike and I went to a new friends house for dinner!  We were connected with a few couples and singles in there 20-30's through our church.  Last night 5 of us got together to start planning a 20-30's group for the United Methodist Church's in Alaska.  It was so nice to meet some new people with a common faith in God.  We had some lasagna, bread, a salad and I brought a Chocolate Cheese Cake for Desert!  It was amazing.

Right now we are planning a get together at our church in January and a retreat at Birchwood (http://birchwoodcamp.org/) in the spring!  I am so so pumped about the retreat. I love Birchwood and as exciting as it is to go out with the youth, I am excited to explore the camp!  Ever since Callen and I started going to Clearwater Church camp in Minnesota I always feel closer to God when at camp surrounded by nature and other people who are also searching for him.    

Oh and one of the leaders even started a Facebook page for it so go check it out
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alaska-20s-30s/159604814063051

Nine Months

Yesterday was the 9 month Anniversary of Callens passing.  Let me tell you it still stinks.  I miss him every day.  and I know these next 2 months are going to be really hard with Thanksgiving and Christmas without him.  When we were home Mike and I went and visited the "Callen Tree" at a local park in Lakeville that his friends stated for him.  We painted on it I painted a Tree and said that I loved him and Mike wrote "Give what you Can" and drew a Ying Yang.  My friend Lauren McKinney who is awesome took some pictures of us at the park.  Here is one of my favorites in front of his tree.

Miss you Callen XOXO

I found this quote today

“I am responsible.
Although I may not be able to prevent the worst from happening,
I am responsible for my attitude toward
the inevitable misfortunes that darken life.
Bad things do happen;
how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life.
I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness,
immobilized by the gravity of my loss,
or I can choose to rise from the pain
and treasure the most precious gift I have –
life itself.”

~ Walter Anderson

I like it...

Hello again

We are back from Minnesota

Well actually the picture above is from Wisconsin at my parents Cabin but we are back in Alaska.  We had a great trip home seeing family, friends, and learning how to drum better.  I loved meeting our nephew Wyatt from the first time. 

We spent a bunch of time up at the cabin with my parents

The weather was amazing.