A Summer of Guests

My aunt and uncle and their six kids came to Alaska for vacation this summer! (Keith, Teresa, Seth, Luke, Audrey, Ryan, Anna and Lydia). I had not seen them since Landon and Whit's wedding over two years ago. And Matt had only met some of them at their wedding...so it was wonderful to have them here and to get to hang out with them! The picture below was taken on Matt and my front porch. That is the amazing view I get to look at while I stand at my kitchen sink doing dishes.

Then, Matthew's mom came to visit! She spent a week with us and we had a great time! We went down to Seward and spent a couple of nights camping and went on a sea life boat tour. Here we are just before getting on the boat.

Gabe, while we are out on the sea life tour.

Me and Matt

Some of our good friends went with us! Ryan, Jen and Hailey!

Hailey sporting Aunt Jojo's shades.

Even though it was sunny and 60 degrees that day (which was WONDERFUL after having 32 straight days of rain and cold weather!!)...the wind on the boat made it a little chilly at times.

Matt and his mom at our campsite.

The place we went camping did not stick to the usual numbering system for keeping track of campsites. Instead they named them. Our campsite was on the very edge of the camp ground and was great. It was called "Somewhere Else"...the campsite next to us was called "Somewhere".

Me and Hailey waiting for some S'mores!

Matthew playing the guitar for us while sitting around the campfire.

Me and Matt

We had a wonderful two weeks of visitors!! 

Anymore that would like to come see us are more than welcome! :) We have plenty of room!

Harp Mountain Hike

Sarah and I hiked harp mountain, which is about a 20 min drive from my house. It was rather foggy/cloudy most of the hike. Even though we couldn't see the view very much, it was a very beautiful hike!

Renewal and Transformation

I bought this dresser at Salvation Army for $13! I think one of my favorite things to do is find ugly, beat up things at thrift stores and fixing them up to make them usable and cute again.

This is the before picture. My camera battery was dead, so I had to take this picture with my phone...thus the quality is not the best. The dresser actually doesn't look too bad in this picture. But trust me, the picture does not do it justice...it was very scratched up and ugly :)

It also had these really deep scratches in it that were nearly impossible to completely sand away.

But now. With a lot of sanding. Some paint. And some new handles it is so cute!

I believe that this is what God does. He finds us when we are all beat up, worn down, and broken. He sands away our scars (which can be painful), then he gives us his Holy Spirit and makes us like new again. He sees the potential in us that most would never see.

"It wasn't so long ago that we ourselves were foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. God's gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives and our hope." ~Titus 3:7

South Fork Trail/Dip-netting on the Kenai

These pictures are in really random order. But it takes so long to rearrange them that I am not going to. :) Matt has been gone for a little over two weeks now. Since he has been gone I have been keeping my self very busy! I have been clamming at Deep Creek with some friends from work. It was raining the whole time we were clamming so I don't have any pictures from that. But it was so much fun!! And, I made some delicious clam chowder with the clams we got that day. Then I went hiking at South Fork trail with Sarah and a friend from work. The next day Sarah and I hiked Harp Mountain with our friend Anna (and her sweet daughter Jenna)...I don't have any pictures from that hike. And that weekend we drove down to the Kenai and went dip-netting. Basically you have a GIANT net with a REALLY long pole and you shove the net out into the ocean (into the strong current) and wait for a fish to swim into the net. It was really hard to hold the net in place, I was really strong enough to do it...so I personally did not catch any fish. But it was fun nonetheless! There was a possibility Matt was going to be home today. But he got delayed. So, possible he'll be home tomorrow...but we'll see! :)

Jaci & Josh's Wedding/Oregon

Matthew and I went to Medford/Central Point, Oregon for one of my college roommates weddings last weekend. My sister, Shelley, flew up from Texas for the wedding as well, because Jaci had specifically requested that Shelley do her hair for her wedding. Shelley did an amazing job on Jaci's hair (in my opinion). And I had a great time seeing lots friends from college and Matt enjoyed meeting them! It was really fun to see my roommates husbands and Matt hanging out and getting to know each other!

The wedding was beautiful and perfect. It was such a great weekend!!

Sorry the pictures are all out of order....

The lovely bride and groom. And the beautiful hair that Shelley did. :)

Jaci and Shelley.

I absolutely LOVED all the wildflowers they used for decoration!!

Matt and Shelley pretending to be cool.

Jaci and her dad, so sweet!

The beautiful bride.

Matt, Matt and Stephen. Our husbands got along so well.

Matt and me just before the wedding.

Josh and Jaci at the rehearsal dinner.

Kathleen, Jenna, Jessica, and me. A few of the roommates :)

Us at the rehearsal dinner.

Jaci and me just before the wedding.

We drove down to Ashland to hang out the day before the wedding. What a great little town!

These two are quite hilarious when they are together!

Jenna, Kathleen, me and Jaci at the rehearsal dinner.

Me and Shell.

Suppressing it All

I think that I have spent a lot of time avoiding thinking about Tyler lately. I have his CD in my car (in my 6 disk changer), and every time that it comes up to be played I skip it. I don't take it out of the CD player though. For some reason it has just been too painful to listen to. There is the welling within me that wants to just lay in my bed and listen to it and cry. But I think part of me fears doing that. I fear that I will fall into grief. I fear that I will not want to get out of bed. I fear that the feelings of just after his death are looming just below the surface, and I just want to suppress them so that they do not overwhelm or consume me.

I have recently been reading a book called "Your Scars Are Beautiful to God" by Sharon Jaynes. It is an excellent book that I am enjoying reading. In fact, I decided to start a Bible study with a few girls from my small group so that we can study this book together. There was a quote that I read the other day that really stuck with me. "Their eyes were blinded by despair, and they didn't realize that hope was walking alongside them." In Luke 24 if shows this scene Peter and John walking down the road talking about the tragic events that had occurred, when another man appeared and began walking alongside them and asked them what they were talking about. They were shocked that he didn't already know, and they told him what about what happened. This man continues on with them and then goes to Peter and John's for dinner. As the man breaks bread Peter and John suddenly recognize that it is Jesus. I think often we are like that. We are traveling down our road of despair and forget that Jesus is walking right beside us if we will only take the time to recognize him, see him, and talk to him. I miss talking about Tyler. I think that it would be easier to listen to his CD if I talked about him more. I would not feel so much like there was this heaviness waiting to crash down on me if I were able to let a little grief out a little at a time, rather then feeling like I just hold it all in.

It was so good to talk to Mama this weekend on Mother's Day. We talked about Tyler and how much we miss him. And about how hard it still is that he is gone. I love you, Mama. I think that you are the most amazing woman that I have ever known. The strength that you have is incredible. I am so blessed to have you as my mom!

I know this post was a little random and discombobulated...but it was just what I was thinking about....

Shooting Range

Matt and Devin decided to take Sarah and I to the shooting range. They want their wives to know how to shoot a gun and are both hoping that Sarah and I will go hunting with them some this summer! We'll see about that. I would like to go, but I will have to get significantly more comfortable shooting a gun before I'll be ready for hunting! But here are a few pictures of the day.

Devin and Sarah loading the 22.

Me shooting the 22. Last time we went to the range I attempted to shoot the 12 guage and it had a little too much kick for me. This was much more my type!

Matt and Devin trying to get Matt's rifle all sited and ready to hunt some bear and moose.

Yep, me and all the guys at the shooting range.

My husband.

Sarah doing an excellent job!