It has been quite a time away again hasn’t it?! I realized that almost 6 weeks has passed since I shared anything here. In many ways I miss writing and honestly in other ways it has felt good to step away for awhile.

I have been writing though, a little. I am excitedly involved in 2 projects that I will be able to tell you more about this fall. It was an honor to participate and once again I will get to see my words in actual print! Some of the other writers involved are my writing heroes so to be included alongside them is surreal!

Speaking of printed words, I spent several months this winter working on a surprise for my mom and my grandma that I was finally able to share with them on Mother’s Day so I can finally share it here now too!

We participated in a leadership training class through my church this year. One of the other participants has an interesting hobby. He loves to print and bind books! He has a detailed process for how he goes about it and when I heard that I asked him if he would be willing to take some of my blog posts from this blog and my old family blog and put them into a book for me to give as a gift.

He agreed and I set to work copying the posts I wanted to use over to a Word document. It was a big task as it was over 121,000 words! Stories from my heart and my life from 2008 – 2016. He helped design the cover and the font etc., he really was such a gift to me and it was incredibly special to be able to share my words in printed form like that with my mom and grandma!

That is the one thing that I love so much about blogging, it is a record keeper of our life. As I went back through some of those old posts I could see how much not only my writing had matured, but how I had changed as well. Spiritually, emotionally…it has been a journey and not always an easy one. But my prayer has always been that my words would be a reflection of God’s work in my life.

God has always been there, even in the hardest, darkest moments. I don’t always see it in the moment, but when I read old stories it is a reminder of all He has done!

Speaking of God’s work in our lives, on Easter Sunday we did one of those Cardboard Testimonies during the worship service. There were about 10 of us I think that got up to share how God had worked in our lives. Dominic and I went up as a couple and it was really powerful and a testament to all that God can do! Here were my signs…

We are nearing the end of the school year here, an after Labor Day start means we are in class through June 1st. Our kids are ready to be done but have a few more days of mandated testing and then the last few days should be a little more fun!

I have been helping with the prep work for VBS at our church. It is such fun to participate in VBS each year, I always look forward to it. The kids are in for a treat again this year too with the decorations! I haven’t helped as much as I would like because I am at work during the day, (I really need to talk to my boss about that!!) but after work I have been spending my evenings at the church painting and creating.

The brains behind this operation are my dear friends Steph, Christina, Carol and Zita. Man, these ladies are talented….and funny! I seriously just want to help so that I can go and laugh for a few hours! So they tell me what to do and I do my best, I bring limited craftiness and lots of laughs and sass to the party. It’s a good fit all around!

I am still exercising most days. I skipped today because I was just too tired to get up…but most days I get a 30-minute Beachbody workout in. Being able to do a workout in the comfort of my own home has been one of the reasons I am still with this after 6+ months! That and an awesome accountability group that encourages one another. Dominic even started getting up early starting this past December. I don’t think he is very happy about it still, but it does make us both feel better. Since October I have lost and kept off 10lbs and 8+ inches!

And even better I still get to eat the things I love. Interestingly, as I have started to eat more healthy I am finding that there are certain foods that really don’t agree with me. I may not ever eat something deep fried again as I feel terrible after I do, but I don’t miss it anymore! If someone tells me I can’t ever have something again, I would crave it for life! But as I make more healthy choices I am finding my cravings change. Weird stuff happening around these parts!

And don’t think I have gone all out crazy health nut over here, I am eating peanut M&M’s as I write this. Seriously, out of all the candy/chocolate available, these have become my favorite! YUM!

Dominic and I will celebrate 21 years of marriage on June 1st and plan to sneak away for an overnight to Red Wing, MN at a beautiful bed & breakfast they have there! We have been to a couple of these and have enjoyed them. Our time was limited when I was trying to plan the surprise, so we are just grateful to be able to get away even if only for 24 hours!

We will be taking a trip up to Northern MN as a family this summer and the kids are anxiously awaiting some warmer temps so that they can get back in our pool. Dominic set it up in mid-May when we were having unseasonably warms temps and then it got cold and rained for a week straight so the pool is a balmy 51 degrees. It may be mid-June before they get back in, but they ask about it almost every day!

Beyond that we are just living life. Busy with work life and home life and everything in between! Our garden is planted and the potatoes may not survive the 4 inches of rain we got in 2 days, but if we can get some warmer and windy days here to dry them out they may have a chance! I’d love to catch up with you…do you have any fun summer plans? Are your kids still in school or are they done? Drop me a comment and let me know!!