Name Update

Thanks for all of your input on choosing a name! I'm serious, I really appreciate the input people have been giving. And although there is still one day left on the poll, I have made my decision on a name.

But guess what -- I'm not going to tell you yet! BWAHAHAHA! I know, evil, right? I'm working with a friend to design a logo, and when I have it, I'll do a big fancy reveal.

I will tell you this: it's none of the names mentioned here OR in any of the comments. It's something JP and I came up with together in one of our conversations. I like it. JP loves it. You might hate it. That's okay with me. :)

Here is a peek at another shoot I had this week.


That's Sam (or did you pick up on that already?).

This is his big sister, Alison, and her pony, Diamond.

Alison is only six years old and races ponies competitively. She is Rae and Ruby's new superstar. They came with me to the photo shoot and were enraptured with Alison and Diamond. They even got their own pony rides.

___________________________________

On the home front:

We are all doing well. We are enjoying the summer and doing our best to be outside as much as possible.

Rosie is so big, and she's cruising around the house, walking along the furniture, and getting into everything. She has definitely entered the "clingy" stage where she wants to be with Mommy all the time. She whines when I leave the room or hand her to someone else, but for the most part, she is a happy baby. We've started calling her "Ducky" or "Ducka-ducka" because one of the babbling sounds she makes sounds like "ducka-ducka."

My brother Micah and his family are in town for a few weeks before they are stationed at Ft. Campbell, KY. We got to spend all day with them on Tuesday, and tomorrow (Sunday) we're heading to Taylor's Falls with my side of the family.

I'm loving my new van! I think my favorite feature so far is the remote operated dual sliding doors. It's amazing. No more struggling to get the doors closed with a baby in one arm and groceries in the other!

Ok, baby's crying. Gotta run.

Poll: I Need a Name

I've been thinking about making some business cards to give my photography "clients" (I don't even like calling them that because it sounds so professional), and possibly incorporating. I'm starting to get more paying clients, and they've been referring me to others. I feel like maybe it's time to make things a bit more official.

But I have just one problem -- I can't figure out a good name to call my "business." I'm now turning to you, my faithful and hopefully honest readers, for help.

I've set up a poll on the left side of this page with some name options. Below, I'm going to explain the pros and cons I see to each name. Considering these, please vote on your favorite. If none of them seem great to you, please say so and tell me why in the comments! I need you to be honest here, people!

I'M ALSO OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS, so if you have a good idea for a name, please leave it in the comments section or click "email me" on the left and send it to me in an email!

Here are the options I've been considering, in no particular order

OPTION ONE -- Audra Charlebois Photography

I know, stunning, right? All kidding aside, this is a very common and straight forward name for a photography business. I know several photographers who simply use their name, and it works very well.

My only hang-up is that my name is sort of complicated. "Audra" often gets confused with "Audrey" or "Andrea," and NOBODY can pronounce or correctly spell my last name.

Nevertheless, I like my name. I think it sounds pretty; I just wonder if it would be too complicated.

OPTION TWO -- Audra C. Photography

Whoa! We're switching it up a bit now! :)

A good solution to my complicated last name is just to abbreviate it. I like this and also like the way it sounds when you speak it; but alas, I stole the idea from a photography friend and hero of mine. The fabulous Jacki Vaughan has a business called Jacki V. Photography. Jacki goes to my in-laws church; we are friends and have many mutual friends. "Audra C. Photography" seems a little copycat to me, even though I like it.

OPTION THREE -- Tentmaker Photography

Where did that one come from, and what does it have to do with photography?

Glad you asked! In the New Testament, the apostle Paul had two gigs. His first/main gig was his call to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. This was his ministry and his life. However, Paul also had a side gig. He was a tent maker. He used this job to supplement his income and help provide the funds he needed to facilitate his higher calling (gig #1).

As a wife and mother, this is the way I feel about Photography. My main gig, or ministry, is to my family -- my husband and three daughters. They come first on my list of responsibilities. Photography would come only after those responsibilities have been met.

I like this name because it's a reminder to me of where my heart and focus will always be, even though I love photography. It's also a conversation starter with clients, and a way to open the door to talking about Jesus.

The down side to this name is that it doesn't sound very...photography-ish?

OPTION FOUR -- Fake It Photography

This isn't really an option. It's an inside joke, and those who understand it will laugh along with me! :)

Please weigh in, both in the poll and in the comments section! I'll keep the poll open for a week. And again, please be HONEST!

Update

It seems I just don't have the time to sit down and put my thoughts on paper (er, screen?) anymore. We've been having such a fun summer! The girls are a blast, and we're at a nice stage where they can go longer without falling apart (and the baby is still small enough to fall asleep in her car seat or stroller), so we can fill our days with even more activities than in years past.

We've been trying to spend a lot of time outside. I'm taking my first swing at a flower garden this year, which is going surprisingly well so far! Our veggies are still in paper cups, waiting to be transplanted. Last year they never did get transplanted, and I'm fearful these poor seedlings may meet the same fate.

Little Rosie is not so little anymore! At nine months, she's already starting to stand on her own for a few seconds before falling to her butt. She's walking all along the furniture, and I have a feeling she'll be our earliest walker (Rae walked at 10 months, so we'll see!). She has two little teeth on the bottom that are so cute, and is all about "real" food; she's so over the baby food & breast milk thing! "Please Mom, that's for infants!"

I am aspiring to take nine month photos of her SOON and get them on here!

Speaking of photos, I've had a few more amazing photography opportunities. I photographed another wedding June 11th and just finished editing all of the photos. Once the couple has had a chance to see them, I will hopefully post some here, too.

I also got to take some newborn & children photos. This is Olivia.


You can view more of her photos by clicking here.

And these are the Perreault Children, Aidan, Ellix & Aurora.


More of their photos here.

In other big news, we're getting a new van! My current van has been breaking down on me over and over and over again. My dad was planning to get a new van already, so he offered us his old one -- for free! When I say "old," I mean a 2002 Chrysler Town & Country...that still has that new car smell! It's gorgeous, and he's kept it in immaculate condition. We are so extremely blessed, and I can't wait to pick it up tomorrow!

I'm too tired to even think straight right now, so I'm going to stop now. But I will get some more photos of MY beautiful children up soon. xo

Mystery Cave Camping Trip

The first weekend in June, we headed south with our friends, the Knoblauchs, for our first camping trip of 2011. We had reservations at Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park, just south of Rochester, MN. The weather forecast was perfect, and while we were all excited for a weekend of fun, nobody had any idea just how eventful the trip would be!

When we got to the campsite, the first thing I noticed was that Rae's shoes were missing. Her ONLY pair of shoes. It didn't take long to realize that the shoes had probably fallen out of the car when we stopped on the side of the rod for her to go potty. We put her in socks and sent her on her way. Then I realized that MY shoes were also missing. Thankfully, they were not my only pair! We later found my shoes at the ranger station -- they had fallen out when we stopped to check in.

Once we got out of the car in into footwear, we found that the Knoblauchs (who had beat us there) were having car problems. Their security mechanism had somehow been triggered, and the key would not turn to start the car. James and JP spent most of Saturday morning rigging the car up so that it could start until James could fix it properly at home.

The campsites were lovely, and there were hardly any mosquitoes. Perhaps the best part about the site was a huge, fallen tree directly behind it. Rae is part monkey, and she was in climbing heaven!

Rae loves to climb, and she's good at it!

Our friend, Ezra

All of the kids spent the majority of the time at the campsite playing on that tree. However, what the park lacked in mosquitoes, it made up for in biting flies. Being in the woods, the kids were attacked the worst, and all of them had big, bloody bites all over their heads and necks. Even sweet little Rosie had bites (but she kept on smiling!).

This happy camper even cut her first tooth during our trip!

After the guys fixed the car, we decided to head to the Mystery Cave. We hadn't gone far when JP had to slam on the brakes as two deer jumped out of the tall grass and onto the road, just a couple feet in front of our car. We were almost relieved until we saw what happened next.

One of the deer, in its panicky effort to make it across the road, made a giant leap. At the height of its jump, the deer smashed directly into the windshield of an oncoming vehicle. The windshield crumbled, tires squealed, and with huge pits in our stomach, we pulled over as quickly as we could. We thought for sure the passengers of the car would be severely injured, if not dead.

JP snapped this photo on his phone

Thank God, besides some minor cuts and scratches, neither the couple in the front seat nor their two young children and dog in the back were hurt. The deer had landed in the wife's lap! She literally had to slide out from underneath it to get out of the car! We were thankful to be there as "first responders" with a big water jug and first aid kit on hand to help however we could.

After that adventure, we continued on our way to the cave, but we had to stop in town to get some more ice for the coolers. Since the suspected site of the lost shoes was near there, we went on a shoe hunt as well. And can you believe it -- we found those darn shoes right on the side of the road, just like we had thought!

I didn't get any pictures inside the cave, but it was cool (and cold -- 48 degrees!) and the kids loved it! This was actually the second time we had been in the cave; we camped there once before with my family when Rae was just a baby.

On Sunday, we visited a historic town called Forestville. It's a restored village from the late 1800's that is now operated by the Minnesota Historical Society. Many of the original buildings are still in tact and available for tours, and the guides are all dressed in character as actual people who lived there in 1899. We did take the tour, but the kids favorite part was exploring the old barn and chasing the chickens in the hen house.

The kids meet a costumed guide -- "oh my, your ankles are showing!"

The Knoblauch family in front of the old barn

Rae in the barn

Checking out the chickens

I love this photo! Ruby on her horse, watching in wonder as the real horses go by.

Cute baby!

We headed home after visiting Forestville, and by the time we reached the edge of the park, the girls had already collapsed with exhaustion from the fun and eventful weekend. Camping with three kids plus dogs isn't necessarily relaxing, but it sure is fun!

Just Let Them

Sometimes, you just have to let them jump in mud puddles with their clothes on. Then you might have to let them take off their clothes and jump around some more. Just let them.

Prairie Land

Today, we visited a lush, green prairie. The tall grasses swayed in the wind and buzzed with busy insects.


Actually, it was just our back yard, which hasn't been mowed once this year.


You see, our mower has been broken. It needed a new belt and an oil change.


This is easy work for JP, but he's been working 16+ hour days -- every day -- for the last month. He finally had some time to work on it this past weekend, but just as he was finishing, he threw out his back and had to stop.


So until he can finish it up and we can mow, we will continue to live in our little house on the prairie. Don't judge.

Garage Sale

This weekend, I held my very first garage sale. It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time. I had done a lot of mental preparation and took my time getting things organized and ready to do so that I wouldn't feel so overwhelmed. And it definitely paid off!

When I mentioned it to my neighbor Judy, she offered to help, as did my friend Crystal and her husband. We chose Memorial Day weekend, hoping to bank on the weekend travelers along Hwy 95. Despite the weather man's grim forecast, we ended up with three glorious days in a row!

I had lots of fun watching all of the different people who came to look and buy. It was interesting to see people's choices, what they found valuable, and what they passed up (seriously, nobody wanted that crock pot?) I had a couple friends come by just to hang out as well, which was very fun and helpful.

See that scooter on the right side of the photo? That belonged to my neighbor Dan. He had it on craigslist but figured he'd set it out anyhow. On day three, someone asked for a test drive and came back with a big smile on his face. He ended up buying the scooter, our big ticket item!

In the end, I got rid of a bunch of stuff that had been cluttering up my home, made a couple hundred bucks, and got a great tan. I think I will leave things set up in my garage and open up shop again in a couple weekends when Princeton has it's big community sale. It can't hurt!

Homeschooling, Part 2

I bet you thought I was never going to get to Part 2, did you? Well, here I go. My thoughts are a jumble tonight, however, so there's no guarantee any of this will make sense.

As I mentioned before, we attended the MACHE annual conference in Duluth last month. One of the key attractions of the conference is the very large and very overwhelming curriculum fair. Imagine a very large conference center room flooded with every type of homeschool parent you can think of -- from the "be free earth mama" to the buttoned up, bearded Amish father -- packed with booth after booth of options on how to homeschool your children. Imagine all of the books! Shelves and shelves of books everywhere you turn! How are you supposed to pick the best ones for you and your child?!!?

Can you tell I was feeling a little inundated?

I had done my homework before attending the conference. I had heard there were too many options available to look at them all, so I took the time beforehand to try to figure out my teaching style, identify Rae's learning style, and narrow down my options to 3-4 curriculum to get my hands on. I felt prepared and confident. But once I got there, I was sucked in by all of the amazing options, many of which I had never even heard of before. By the end of the weekend, I was feeling more unsure about what I'm going to do with Rae in the fall than when I started.

Then it hit me -- this is supposed to be fun. I was feeling all of this pressure to pick a curriculum, do a bunch of research, and have a plan ready to go. I was stressing over whether I should do a preschool or kindergarten curriculum, whether it should be 4 or 5 days a week, and what math program I should use. But as I attended the sessions, almost all of the speakers were repeating the same thing: stop stressing and have fun. If you're not enjoying this, your kid probably isn't either! It defeats the whole purpose if your children end up hating school. The goal is to develop Biblical character traits and a love of learning.

Rae just turned four in February. There is no reason to jump into some big, official curriculum right away. We may sample a little from here and there and see what works well for us; but mostly we are just going to practice getting into the habit of doing school a couple days per week. It will be fun stuff -- not stressful. We'll turn over rocks and talk about bugs. We'll read stories from around the world, then find them on the map. We'll make patterns with marshmallows, then add them all up before we eat them. It will be fun, and hopefully, Rae will love to learn.

So, with that said, my "plan" for this fall is to...
1.) Get in the habit of setting aside time for school 3-4 days per week.
2.) Practice some reading & handwriting, but not push it
3.) Do lots of reading out loud with the girls, especially classic childrens' stories & the Bible
4.) Have fun!

When Rae is five, we will start kindergarten. She is "past" preschool (colors, shapes, letter recognition, etc.), but I don't want to turn her off to school by jumping right into kindergarten at age 4.

And just for you curious ones out there, here are some of the curriculum I've been looking into for once we DO get going.
-Heart of Dakota
-Sonlight
-5 in a Row
-KONOS
-Math-U-See
-A Reason for Handwriting
-Spell to Write & Read
-Charlotte Mason approach

Here are some photos from a day at the park last week!

Rae & Rosie

Their relationship...

...is so...


...unique.


They love each other so much.

Easter 2011

I don't have the time or the energy to recount all that happened on Easter weekend, but suffice to say it involved another car malfunction and missing out on two out of three celebrations with family.

Let's skip the details and just look at pictures today, shall we? :)

Vinnie's loot

Matching dresses courtesy of Auntie Lisa

On the hunt
Rosie & Gammy
Cutest ever!

Quotes from Rae

Dad to Rae: "It's kind of chilly out, don't you want your hat on?"
Rae: "Not really. My hair is so beautiful when it blows in the wind."
_____________________________

We were reading the Bible passage, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in me bears much fruit." I asked the girls what it meant for us to bear fruit, and then explained it to them. While we were still talking, Rae excused herself to go to the bathroom.

Moments later she burst back into the room with her pants at her knees and yelled, "Hey, Mom! Our pee is like the juice from the fruit we bear!"
_____________________________

Me: "Rae, will you please go tell Ruby to stop yelling and come talk to me."
Rae (up the steps): "RUUUUBYYYY! MOM SAYS STOP YELLING!!!!!"
_____________________________

I was on the floor folding laundry when Rae walked in.
Rae: "Hmm, lets see. How long have you been doing laundry?"

Then she whips out a tape measure and pulls it out to about three feet.
Rae: "Wow, you've been doing laundry for a while!"

Homeschooling, Part 1

A couple of weekends ago, JP and I attended our first homeschooling conference in preparation for starting Rae's schooling in the fall. The annual conference is hosted by an organization called the Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators, or MACHE. Since it was our first time attending and all of our children are under the age of five, we had the added bonus of being able to attend for free.

The conference was awesome. There was an overwhelming amount of information, resources, training, and support to be gleaned everywhere you turned. I was able to get my hands on different curriculum I had been researching online and physically flip through the pages to see if each one was a good fit for our family; plus, I was introduced to brand new ones I had never even heard of before. But perhaps most encouraging of all was just seeing the thousands of people who are doing exactly what we are doing -- choosing to educate their own children from home.

Choosing to homeschool can be fairly intimidating. Even having been an "A's and B's" type of student all the way through high school and then having earned a 4-year college degree from a respected University, I still struggle with the question, "Am I adequate for this job? Do I want to be responsible for the education of my children? I don't even remember basic science! I'm horrible at math! How can I do this??" And yet we still believe this is what's best for our children. It was encouraging to meet other families taking the same intimidating step of faith and know that we are not alone on this journey.

Homeschooling is not for everyone. Heck, homeschooling might not even be for us! I don't know. I haven't tried it yet. We don't think we are better or more righteous because we've chosen to homeschool. But JP and I have a number of reasons why we do want to give home education a try. I'd like to list some of those reasons here not only for you all to know where we are coming from, but also for myself and for our kids, so that on the days I'm feeling discouraged, overwhelmed or inadequate, I can look back and remind myself of why I started along this road to begin with.

Then in a later post, I hope to go into more about the conference itself, what I learned, and some of the curriculum options I'm considering.

I want to stress one thing that people tend to assume about homeschooling families. Just because we are home educating does not mean we are anti public school. In fact, if when our children get older they want to go to public school, and if we feel confident in their spiritual maturity, we will let them go. It will be their first mission field! High school is not too young to be a light on a hill.

Without further adieu, here they are:

Our Reasons for Homeschooling

1. I Want to Be With My Children

I am constantly reminded how fortunate I am to be able to stay home with my kids. I know there are a lot of women who wish they could, but simply cannot. I do not take it for granted, and I want to make the most of it. It would feel weird to me to send them away all day while I stayed home. I want to be with them! I want to be the one who sees the light bulb turn on in their eyes when they understand a new concept for the first time. I want to be the one to help them through their struggles and rejoice with them when they overcome them. I want to be the one to answer their questions, and if I don't know the answers, I want to be the one to show them where and how to find them. I want to learn with them and talk with them all day long about the things that matter most in life.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9: These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.

2. Personalized Education

Everyone would agree that smaller classroom sizes benefit the children in those classrooms because each child gets more time & personalized attention from the teacher. Home education gives parents the opportunity to teach each child individually and personalize the education for that specific child. And who else knows that child better than her mom and dad?

3. Time

With homeschooling, we can be efficient and flexible with our time. If something or some event comes up that would normally fall during a school day, we can rearrange our schedule to accommodate it. We can do school four days a week instead of five, then leave the fifth day open for extracurricular activities, field trips, co-ops, or even just running errands. If something comes up and JP needs me to drop everything and attend to something concerning the business, I can do that and not worry. Once the kids are older, they can have their schoolwork done by lunch time and use the rest of their day to work a job, practice a hobby or skill, or get involved in something they care about.

We have a friend who was homeschooled. At the age of 16, he used his free time to start up a small lawn mowing business. He would finish his school work early, then head out to earn money. Now, in his late twenties, he is the owner of a very successful, full-blown landscaping company, working for high-end clients and providing jobs for people during tough economic times. That's awesome. It's amazing what you can do with a little free time!

4. Family

We want to homeschool to build a strong bond as a family. We want our kids to look at each other as friends, playmates, and pillars of support in their lives. We believe that shared family experiences will enrich their lives and bring us closer together than if we spent our days apart from each other and only came together for dinner before dispersing again. We hope that by keeping our family tight-knit now, our children will one day choose to include us in their lives as adults.

5. Character

It's listed as #5, but this is actually the single most important reason JP and I have decided to homeschool our children.

JP and I both believe school is about much, much more than academics. Have you ever seen the show Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? That show is proof that every child who ever asked their teacher, "When am I going to use this in life," was right. Much of the trivia you learn at a young age is not going to be vital to your success as an adult. The most important lessons we want our children to learn are those of character.

With so many different sets of values represented in one community (traditional classroom), it's hard to expect the values you esteem will be taught.

Here is a bold statement, but one that we hold to: If our children earn only C's and D's, barely graduate, never get into college, and work at McDonalds for the rest of their lives, but they do their best, are honest, hardworking, responsible, attentive, fair, faithful, compassionate, industrious, diligent, forgiving, humble, helpful, self-controlled, and obedient (just to name a few), and if they love the Lord with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strengths, then we will feel that we have accomplished what we set out to do as parents and home educators.

That said, we believe that if our children possess these traits, they will excel academically and in life.

What about private school?
Glad you asked. I and all of my siblings went to a private Christian school K-12 and we all loved it. But even though they did teach us Jesus and the Bible, private school was not where we learned good character; we learned that at home from our parents. In fact, any of the trouble we did get into as kids happened not at home, but at private Christian school.

At the risk of sounding arrogant, we feel that we can do a better job of teaching godly character to our children not because we're so smart or so godly, but because God appointed us specifically to do the job.

Aren't you worried about socialization?
No, I'm not. It is true, there are a handful of really socially awkward homeschool kids out there. Most of them are from my generation. But homeschooling today is not at all what it was when we were growing up.

I am amazed at how large the homeschool community is in our state, and the opportunities for involvement are astounding. There are tons of co-ops (homeschool families/groups getting together for things like science experiments, outings, field days, etc.) and outlets for extracurricular activities in group settings. There are homeschool sports leagues, or you can choose to have your child participate in the local public school's athletic program. There are musical outlets, like choirs and bands in which to play. Not to mention the socialization that goes on at church, AWANA, play dates with friends, and of course with their siblings!

I am a very social person, remember? I will wither away if I have to stay inside my house for the next 20+ years teaching my kids. We WILL be out in the world socializing and discovering. I am confident my children are not going to be socially lacking.

Aren't you concerned about over-sheltering your kids?
No, I'm not. JP and I fully intend to first teach our children from a Christian worldview; but as they grow, we also intend to verse them in other worldviews and philosophies and have them compare them to the Word of God. We don't want them to just "swallow and follow." We want them to think critically and be able to give an account for what they believe (I Peter 3:15). We want to hold them responsible for their own personal relationships with Jesus and questions about faith, not just depend on us for the right answers.

We are not going to shelter them from the evil in this world. We are going to teach them to face it head on and take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor 10:5).

There are so many other reasons I could have included as sub-points under these main ones, but when it all comes down to it, our top three reasons for homeschooling are right here:


Like I said before, I don't think homeschool is for everyone, nor do I think homeschooling makes a family better than any family who chooses not to. I really appreciated my educational experience, as did JP. If a parent's heart isn't ready to take on home education, I'm convinced things could end up worse than if they had just gone to public school.

Here is the bottom line: We feel we can do a better job teaching our kids the things we feel are most important. God entrusted them to us and has placed certain values on our hearts, and we feel it's our responsibility to teach them those values ourselves on a daily basis.

As always, I'm interested to hear your thoughts and questions in the comments. How did you choose your children's school? Do you homeschool? What were your reasons? Do you think homeschooling is a bad idea? Why/Why not?

Cole & Deb's Wedding

What do you get when the couple the nicest, most humble, genuine, selfless, Jesus-loving man you've ever met with the sweetest, most encouraging, genuine, faithful, God-fearing woman you've ever met? The Holy Spirit drops in on your wedding like a BOMBSHELL and lives are forever impacted. That was the wedding of Mr. & Mrs. Cole & Deb Ries!

These guys are amazing. They each knew they were going to marry each other more than four years before they ever said anything to each other or anybody else. She was in law school, he was finishing his degree, looking for a job, and eventually started working a new position an hour away in St. Cloud. They just kept their little (BIG) promises tucked in their hearts and waited for God's perfect timing to set things in motion. They shared their first kiss at the altar, and the moment was so powerful and sweet I couldn't decide whether to cheer or cry, so you know...I just did both.

Here are some pictures from their beautiful day:

Both the cake and floral arrangements were done by friends who consider themselves "amateurs." I beg to differ!

Beautiful bridesmaids and even more beautiful friends, Sarah & Christine.

Rock candy bar...so cute!

The kids especially loved it!


Congratulations, Cole & Deb. You've been a blessing to us and so many others. We can't wait to see what awesome and powerful things God has in store for you.

Calamities

I almost don't have the energy to write this post. The last three weeks have been mentally trying and emotionally exhausting. But praise God, we are on the upswing now!

On the 16th of March, our well pump went out and had to be replaced (as well as our pressure tank). Three days later, our furnace went out. We called a repair man who said it was toast and needed to be replaced as well. We didn't have the funds for that, so we set up space heaters and thanked God for the warmer weather and sunshine.

Next, the spring thaw reeked havoc on our yard, and JP's van got stuck in the giant mud hole formerly known as our yard. We called out a tow truck (thank God for AAA), but the tow truck also got stuck. A second tow truck had to come out and rescue both of the mud-locked vehicles. This is what our yard looked like afterward.



JP has to be able to get his truck back to his workshop to access his tools, so we bit the bullet and purchased as much gravel as we could afford to lay down. It wasn't much and barely made a dent. We'e spent the last two weeks raking goopy, smelly mud and doing anything we can to clear away some of the mess and speed up the drying process.

Next, my car broke down the day before the rehearsal for our friends' wedding, in which I was singing. With JP's van stranded in his shop and my car out of commission, we had to rent a car to get me down to the rehearsal. That night, JP and his friend James were up until 2:30 am fixing my car so we would have it for the wedding the next day. They got it *mostly* fixed, but JP needed to go get a part in the morning to finish it off, then put it back together in time for the wedding. I took the rental down to the wedding (since I had to be there early for a sound check) as JP hurried to get my van fixed. He ran out of time and ended up having to drive his now un-stranded van. BUT, along the way, his van also broke down. The last I spoke with him before the prelude began, he was going to try to turn around, get my van put together and make it in time for the kiss (remember, we live an hour away from everything). When I called him after the ceremony, he was still under the car, dirty and frustrated. He missed the entire wedding of one of his dearest friends.

Somewhere in the midst of all of these calamities, Rae put the icing on the cake by taking a pink, permanent marker to our house -- walls, doors, windows, piano, bed, printer, toys, couches and the kicker, my wedding dress. Yes. Pink, permanent marker on my wedding dress. I wasn't home at the time (JP was on duty), and it's a good thing I wasn't or I probably would have freaked. As it was, I had time to calm down before I got home and, aside from a few tears, remained relatively calm. I took it to the cleaner and have yet to pick it up to see how it turned out.

Well then, let's think positively, shall we?!? We now have a new well pump & pressure tank! Awesome! And after three weeks of space heaters, we also now have a new high efficiency furnace, which should save us money on fuel costs! Great! (Although I cringe to think of our next electric bill!) JP (& James) fixed both of our vehicles and they're now running better than ever after full tune-ups! The mud is almost dry, and the dry cleaner sounded positive about getting the marker out of my dress. Plus, our friends had an awesome wedding, which I was very thankful to attend and be a part of, even though we are sad JP missed it.

All's well that ends well, right?

"OK, Lord! That's enough! We get it. You're in control. We depend on You for every breath we take. Shall we accept the good from you an not also the bad? No way. Now please, can that be enough for now? Thanks."