The Kohlmans

I dashed like a warrior this morning with some amazing friends. A co-worker turns 40 this week and wanted to do something special for her 40th. So she chose the Warrior Dash. Basically, this is a 5K trail run obstacle course. Yes, those pictures are real. I jumped over fire. It's a true story. We started the weekend with a long drive to KC (we made a few pits stops...). There weren't more than a handful of quiet moments the whole drive. After checking into our hotel, we headed to Zona Rosa for some shopping and eating.  I am a library nerd. I want these. (But I stayed true to my clutter-free pledge and didn't even look at the price!) Yogurtini - NOT as good as Orange Leaf. I had so much fun hanging out with these girls. Well, women. :) I love them dearly and am so privileged to have such amazing coworkers. I can't even tell you how awesome they are. Maybe some day I'll try. It was great to get a chance to spend time with them outside of the school...

One of my friends, Gretchen, recently blogged about her mission to simplify . (I hope it's okay that I'm linking to you, Gretch!) Her "organizing mantra" is from the Organizing Junkie : "Clutter = anything you don't love or use or have the space to store." I love this. Except... we have a lot of room to store things. We have three bedrooms. Well - right now we have a bedroom and a study and a sewing/guest room. We have a full, unfinished basement. And when we were looking at houses, we vowed not to be "those people" - you know, who have so much stuff in the garage that they can't use it for cars. (And while it does seem ridiculous to have a 3-bedroom house with a full unfinished basement for two people - and a dog - part of the reason we bought our abode is that this is most definitely our "forever" home, at least for as long as we live here in Atown... there's no "moving up" for us.) So I decided I ...

Once upon a time, my Grandma Donna made each of her grandchildren a Raggedy Ann and Andy set, even two for some of us (the granddaughters, maybe?). I don't know when she started or why, but they are precious. I don't have strong memories of Grandma Donna sewing, not like my Grandma Lu does, anyway. But I can picture her, leaning over the Bernina (that I now have the privilege of using) in the back room, piecing together dresses and aprons and sailor's hats. I brought mine home from mom and dad's sometime this spring, when Grandma was really sick and I was feeling the need for some childhood comfort. A couple weeks ago I decided they could use a trip through the washing machine, on the gentle cycle. As I separated them from their clothes in preparation, I found a long-forgotten message: Stitched on each doll's chest is a heart, full of love. It was a beautiful reminder of how much she loved us each. Love you too, Grandma.

I've been trying to think of something to post since Tuesday. There are a few in-progress projects and such that I'm planning posts on, but I suppose I have to finish them first. I've also been thinking some about what I posted earlier in the week, about blogging about my faith . (Thanks to those of you who posted encouraging comments - it really does mean a lot, probably more than you know.) If I'm going to be honest (which is hard. really hard in this instance), I have to confess that my daily devotions are a bit lacking. And by lacking I mean pretty much nonexistent. I'm usually not sure how to pray or what to pray for, other than "God you're great, and God you're good..." before meals (but that's a post in and of itself). I often feel lost reading books that I don't identify with. And part of it is that I don't feel very comfortable talking about my faith, and I married a man who feels the same. But I do want that to change...

We are on the downhill slide into "back to school" days. As much as I'm not ready to go back, I think I'd better start preparing - while we do our best to soak up what's left of a lazy summer. Yesterday for lunch we went to a local drive-in, where Brad has apparently been a few times. We walked up to the window to order, and the college girl who works there (her family owns it) saw Brad and asked, "Do you want what you always have?" "Yep," he replied with a grin. She wrote down his order, complete with the "ketchup and mustard only" directive for the hamburger. In my disbelief, I could barely order. He informed me later that, when he calls his order in he doesn't have to give his name - they just know. So either he goes there too often or they need a few more customers... Or maybe he's just that famous around here?! Nah. Slice of Life Tuesday!

"Bidden or not bidden, God is present." -Desiderius Erasmus If you've been lurking around my blog for any amount of time, you may have noticed that there's definitely something I don't post much - maybe not really at all - about: faith. (And I do say lurking on purpose, because ya'll don't comment... and I have fixed my commenting settings so everybody should be able to comment without logging into anything. I'll keep it that way unless somebody says something mean.) Anyway, back to the point. Faith. Mine, specifically, since this is my blog after all. Yikes. Isn't that one of the things you're not supposed to talk about with friends? Politics, religion... I always thought there was a third but I can't seem to think of it right now. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good discussion about my faith and all that entails. I just don't post about it, well, because I feel like so many people who do blog about their faith have thi...

We watched the clouds roll in last night at the lake. (Brad was fishing. I was photog-ing) They brought a brief cold front with them - and a tiny bit of rain. It was amazing.

When we were growing up, my dad always planted a few rows of sweet corn (and by a few rows, I mean a couple acres). The field that he devoted a corner of migrated from year to year, but we almost always had a great crop. We would pick it, shuck it, and sell it by the baker's dozen to neighbors, family, mom's coworkers, and anyone who happened to drive by when we set up the card table by the road (and, as you can imagine, we didn't have many drive-bys, out in the boondocks). I clearly remember (dreading) the wake-up call, the hot, dusty field, the sticky kernels, the fat worms, the fights over which radio station to listen to. I won't try to glamorize this; I disliked every moment - until we devoured the corn at dinner each night... and mostly until the end of the season came and we sat down to add up and divide the profits. This past several years have been hit or miss with the sweet corn. Too hot, too dry, didn't plant it, etc... But this year my dad chose a ...

It's slice of life Tuesday! So the city of Atown, as of the city council meeting last night, is on mandatory water restriction. Outdoor watering is limited to two days a week (which days depend on your house number - we get Tuesday and Friday), from 6-9 a.m. or 7-10 p.m. *Side note: last night on the news, the weatherman told us that the average number of 100*+ days in Wichita is 11. The record is 21 100*+ days. So far this year, we've had 19 100*+ days, and there are at least four more, just in the 10-day forecast. Yikes. Add in the fact that we've kind of been in an on-again, off-again drought for the past couple of years, more on than off... And you get a severe water shortage in a place that gets its water from two rather dried-up, man-made lakes.* Anyway, this is not a HUGE deal to us, mainly because we're not huge lawn water-ers, especially since our dog chewed on the wiring for the sprinkler system and we haven't had it fixed yet... (We just ...

The Help comes out August 10... for once a movie I'm excited about going to see. If you haven't read the book, you should pick it up!

Happy Birthday, Brad!

My second summer reading update - just as thrilling as the first. I'm now finished with the list of William Allen White nominees. In fact, my list of books to read is getting pretty darn short. Couldn't put it down Nickel and Dimed by Ehrenreich (surprisingly, since it is nonfiction...) The Rest of her Life by Moriarty  (thanks to sister Hannah for this suggestion - great book by a KS author) The Stormchasers by Blum Diamonds in the Shadow by Cooney Shine by Myracle All the Broken Pieces by Burg (WAW)   The Great Death by Smelcer (WAW)   Return to Sender by Alvarez (WAW) The Amaranth Enchantment by Berry (WAW) (cute ending) Sing You Home by Picoult Double Eagle by Collard (WAW) Heart of a Shepherd by Parry (WAW) The Center of Everything by Moriarty  Very good reads Faith, Hope, & Ivy June by Naylor (WAW) Anything But Typical by Baskin (WAW) Operation Yes by Holmes (WAW) My Name is Phillis Wheatley by Cooper (WAW)  Notes...

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." -President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1937