Girls Weekend

This past weekend my awesome hubby took over and let me hang out for two nights with my two great friends Christal & Staci at Lake McClure. Staci's family owns a houseboat and was gracious enough to let us come up and spend part of the weekend with them. Of course we all forgot our cameras, so the only surviving pic (that I know of) is the one above of one of the boat launching areas.

We arrived early Saturday evening, had dinner and then went in for a swim. I hadn't swam in at least 2 years due to being on dialysis (you can't get your port wet which makes even bathing/washing your hair an adventure!) so I was a little leery of getting in but finally got up the courage to dive on in. I forgot how much I enjoy swimming and the water in general! We had a great night hanging with Staci's sister's family (the parents of the infamous Kailey), Staci's mom and a friend of the family. It was a lot of fun, most of it at Miss Staci's expense...gotta love her. We spent the night on top of the houseboat and my word the stars were absolutely fabulous.

The next day we started with another swim then went out on the boat with Kristi driving. Christal and I had never been wake-boarding before, so we both got up the courage to give it a go and LOVED it. So challenging, yet so much fun. We both were so close to getting up on the board, and I think if we had another day or two there we would have mastered it. After lunch we said goodbye to Staci's family as they went back home. Another afternoon of swimming with some dive contests between Staci and I (I'm not competitive at all ;) and the girls talked me into jumping off the top of the houseboat into the water. It took all my courage to actually do it, but Christal pulled out the trump card "do it for kidney-versary!" so after some dramatics from Christal stomping up the stairs to make me jump, I took the plunge...literally (I know, I know bad pun). Another great night was spent talking, playing games and sleeping under God's creation. I really was in awe of how beautiful it is, we are so blessed.

The next day we went out for one more boat ride and Christal tried to get up on the wake-board, I couldn't try due to a run in between my toe and the garbage compactor (only me), then we packed up to leave.

It was a quick and fantastic trip, but I still missed my boys. Andrew would absolutely love to play in the water like we did, and if he knew Kailey was up there I'd be in so much trouble. Looking forward to the next lake trip!

4th of July

July 4th is my hubby's birthday, as well as a pretty famous national holiday. This year we decided to have a few of our closest friends over for some hang time, bbq, and fireworks....Good times! Definitely up there on my list of favorite fourths.

Here are some of my favorite snapshots, enjoy.

Bromance

Yesterday was our friend Bobby's last day at CLC (he and his awesome wife Rachel are planting a church in Santa Cruz).

Coincidentally, the sermon that morning was entitled "Bromance" and on the friendship of Jonathan and David. To enhance the sermon, Bobby put together a "mash up" of different songs relating to friendship including "Guy Love" from Scrubs.

Haven't heard it before? Check out the original:

And Bobby's version:

It was hilarious and a great way to bring pop culture into the church in a totally appropriate way.

Fallen Behind

So I've majorly fallen behind in updating. The Disneyland Birthday Trip was fantastic. So much fun to hang and play with the girls. Quite a few moments of sadness though seeing little ones running up to the characters and having a blast at the parks. Definitely made me miss my little guy.

We drove down to San Diego on Friday night (12/11) and stayed with Christal's family for two nights. They were great hosts and we loved spending time with them. Sunday morning we left at 6am for Disneyland! I've never done the park from open to almost close before. We usually stay near or on site so you can go back for a rest or to the pool, etc. It made for a long, but really fun day! Christal and Staci (in particular) hadn't been on A LOT of the rides, so it was cool to be able to share those experiences. Sunday night we stayed with Christal's SLO (now in SoCal) family. It was great to hang & get to k now them better.

Monday was Christal's big day! As part of 2009 people get into one of the parks free on their birthday, so we headed out to DCA (Disney's California Adventure for non-disney dorks). Monday, December 14th was also the one year anniversary of my seizures - it's amazing how time flies! It was hard to be away from Randy for that day, he's the one that saw everything go down, but it was really special to be able to physically do something so different than being in a hospital like I was a year ago...we didn't know what the future held at that point. To commemorate the big day I decided that I needed to face my fears and go on Tower of Terror. I mean, if I can get a kidney transplant and go through dialysis for 6 months I can handle falling a dozen or so stories on a ride, right? I was so scared waiting in the queue wishing I hadn't said I'd do it! I get nervous around heights and dropping just didn't seem like a good plan anymore. I did end up going on it, and latching on to Stace during the ride while I was laughing so hard I was crying, and it's now my new favorite ride at DCA! Who knew.

The day finished with a loooong drive back, avoiding two accidents, getting stared down by a mean woman at starbucks (I thought she was going to jump me!) and my first visit to the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (loved it!). Such a great trip, thanks ladies!

So Blessed

I think it's good to recognize the blessings you have. I'm blessed with a loving God; an amazingly wonderful, generous husband; a beautiful, smart, healthy son; restored health through a kidney transplant (which was donated by an amazing friend); a home; great family; and some truly amazing friends.

My good friend Christal is going to Disneyland for her birthday this weekend. Last year I wasn't able to spend her birthday with her as I had suffered 2 grand mal seizures as a result of my kidney failure (more on that in posts to come). This year it didn't look like I'd be able to spend it with her again. Construction has been rough this year and work has been light for Randy. Last night I was approached with the offer of an expense paid trip to join Christal and Staci to celebrate. How many times does that happen in your lifetime? And what an awesome God we have that blessed me with such great friends with generous hearts! And an amazing husband that says "go, you deserve it." Yeah, I wept.

So I won't be posting for a few days, but I think it's excusable! Have a great weekend everyone, I know I will!