Hello again! The last few weeks have been hectic but I keep thinking how I want to update my blog! So I just dropped Grizzly off at the groomer (he's a mess) & am at this cute little coffee shop in downtown Denver. My first priority? Update the blog! So here we are...
I'll start with a quick recap of January:
I made a cake for a coworker's going away party & some cupcakes for a friend's baby shower:
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| Going away cake... |
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| Baby shower cupcakes (in case you couldn't make the distinction yourself) |
We went to the rodeo as well (with a great new camera we'd been saving up for). I just love the rodeo! I'm considering investing in some pink cowboy boots, but we'll see... =)
We went to Carbondale for a long weekend with my parents for my dad's birthday. Grizzly met a new friend & the scenery was just so beautiful!
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| Mt Sopris |
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| It's a little bright, but you can see these two were very interested in one another! |
Lastly, we got about 2 feet of snow at the beginning of February. We got a snow day from work but we didn't leave the house! We shoveled twice & it took awhile just to get out of our driveway!
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| The snow was as tall as Grizz! |
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| After Mike shoveled our driveway. The pile was almost as high as the car! |
Now when you think of
February, what do you think of? I don't know about you, but I typically think of
Valentine's Day! We are a part of a small group on Tuesday nights that meets for dinner, bible study & just hangin' out. Since Valentine's Day was on a Tuesday, we celebrated as a group! I made some spice cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting:
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| Mmmm! |
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| Here's all the cupcakes along with some flowers from Sandra! |
Then we wanted to take a sweet couples picture (it was the Day-of-Love after all...) so we first took a practice shot:
No here's the real thing! :-)
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| Grizzly gives you kisses too! Thanks Mom Klausmeyer for the pink bandana. He LOVES it. :-) |
There's a verse we're studying right now with the kids at church, & I was really convicted to think that if I'm
teaching this to kids, how well am I
living it out? I think sometimes as adults we forget that we can't effectively teach something without really believing & living it. The verse is from Romans 12:10 which says, "Love each other deeply. Honor one another more than yourselves." Now if I'm honest, I can easily tell you all the ways
I want to be loved & honored. Everything
you could do to love
me better
. All the reasons
I'm already doing a good job. Embarrassing when I have to write it out. But true. However I've been confronted many different times this month to put
my husband first & think of all the ways I can be better for
him. To realize that I'm not the perfect wife & there are always ways for me to improve so
he feels loved.
So for Valentine's Day, I decided to do a homemade gift that would really benefit
both Mike & I. I got the idea
here and wanted to make it my own. With this gift, I thought of 12 dates that Michael would really like, & I wrote them out on a card & put it in an envelope.
At the beginning of each month, he opens the card & we decide on a day or night to have that date. Each month is a surprise- he doesn't get to open an envelope until the first day of the month. Also in the envelope are 'Coffee Talk' cards that are used to spark meaningful conversation. On our date, we'll pull out the cards & answer the questions.
Finally, also in the envelope are monthly challenges. I think after only being married for 3 years & 8 months (on Valentine's Day exactly!) I really do see the importance of being
intentional. We know each other well, we have fun together, but sometimes we're not intentionally growing closer together, or intentionally working on how we love & honor our spouse. We just tread water. Like many couples, I believe. So each month, there's a challenge that is set before us that we have to focus on that month. I'll be sharing more specifics as the months go along!
Finally I wrote a card & wrapped it all up in a nice bow (mostly for the picture of course, Michael doesn't care about bows or heart stickers.)
My hope behind this gift is yes, to have fun dates, but also to share quality time & experience growth in our marriage. If any one of us thinks we don't need to grow, we have a problem. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone & I hope & pray each of you experiences love every day of your life! xoxo
