Showing posts with label everyday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label everyday. Show all posts

Drenched and Refreshed

4:26:00 PM by 

A Glimpse into Our Day

This afternoon, we were seeking air conditioning and a good dose of shopping. With this weekend being predicted as dangerously hot for us northerners...which is still under 100 degrees :)...we were happy to be in a cooler place than our home, which only has a small-space air conditioner.

So...the story goes like this:

We shop until our cart is full, hearing that a downpour has begun by the sound echoing off the roof. By the time we reach the doors to leave the store, we decide to wait until it stops, taking an ice cream break. But then, we returned to the doors to find an even more torrential downpour. I was telling Katelyn and Mom something like "Let's just run!" and they are thinking "NO!" so we eventually compromised that I would run for the car and pull up to the door for them and the bags.
Ummm...lets just say it was more of a downpour than I thought! I was drenched and almost ran into another person who was running through the parking lot as I sloshed my way to the farther end of the lot for the car, laughing as I banged my head trying to get into it. Another thing that struck me funny is that I was still wearing my church clothes and I realized that this wasn't the first time that my skirt had been drenched in a downpour adventure! Last summer, I was on a walk/run with my friend in the same skirt...don't ask me why I was in a skirt - that's beyond the point...but it started pouring and we went at least another mile. Yep...that skirt has been through a lot! ;)
Well, at least this afternoon made for a very refreshing and cooling adventure and I'm almost dry now! The house has cooled off too. Maybe tonight we can still grill for supper...

(And no, I did not go back out in the rain for this picture...I took it earlier this summer when it was so beautiful out after a rainfall!)

~Eliza

Intermission for Current Events

4:55:00 PM by 
With lots of homework, painting the walls, ripping out carpet, living on beds in the middle of bare bedrooms and out of a closet in the living room (but that's for a later post), and other not-so-ordinary everyday happenings...we've been trying to keep up with the usual spring pace of life!
In the midst of all of this indoor activity, wondrously warm weather and little bits of spring are showing up!
This brave little flower has peeked out through the stones in our flower garden.
How beautiful!
~Eliza

Summer has ended...

9:59:00 AM by 
...School has begun.
However, we want to backtrack a little bit on this blog of ours to post some of the fun times we've had in the last few weeks of summer...hopefully coming up soon! :)
***
As for today, I'll leave you with this...
Some exciting happenings in our backyard!
a HUGE hive
WAY up high in the tree
Our thoughts so far on how to get rid of it:
#1 Shoot an arrow at it from our deck to knock it down. Then, quickly run back inside the house to escape the angry swarm of bees! However, this somewhat crazy attempt isn't going to happen since we don't own a bow and arrows ;)
#2 Take the hose and power wash it down!
or
(the idea we've gone with so far)
#3 Leave it be...since we don't really have time to go in the backyard anyway! :)
If anyone has any better ideas, we'd be happy to hear them!
-

The Potted Garden

Our hopes for sun-ripened tomatoes have once again been denied...when will we learn our lesson to plant a little earlier?!?!

Still so very green!

So, to get a taste of the deliciousness of homegrown, sun-ripened tomatoes, we've been enjoying some of Grandma's and our Aunt's.

As for the peppers...well, they're doing a little better!

We have 3 decent sized ones that we'll be able to eat.

And there you have it...a little bit of the summertime happenings in our backyard! :)

~Eliza

Soaking up the Sun

12:29:00 PM by 
While we've been busy this past week with traveling and company, our garden has been soaking in lots of sunshine...and water when we get a chance to get out with the watering can!
We've been able to use some of the herbs so far...basil, parsley, oregano, cilantro, and chives. It's so great to step outside onto the deck to gather some fresh herbs while you're cooking!
We've now added a bell pepper plant,
11 tomato plants
and
over 20 basil plants
to our existing garden (and if you're wondering what those tall plants in the back are...they are our cilantro "trees" I guess we hadn't read up enough about them to expect that!)
So far, the easiest plants that we've grown from seed have been basil. After the slow process of sprouting and beginning to grow, they just take off!

Oh...and we can't forget the potted rhubarb!!! :)

Grandma had given us some to start our own plants in our yard. To keep them from withering away before we had a chance to plant them, they were stuck in a pot...and have been there growing ever since!

So, our garden has been soaking up the sun and we have been out enjoying it too, which is one of the factors that has contributed to our lack of posts in the past few weeks! Summer can get to be so busy, but it is also filled with fun...ice cream & movie nights, bike rides, baking, good books, and spending time with family and friends!

~Eliza

After the Rain

7:14:00 PM by 
Everything seems so much brighter, greener, and newer after this long week of rain. As the sun began to set tonight, we went on a walk along the trail with Grandma...soaking in the warm rays of sunlight and spotting wildflowers left and right...wild roses, lilies, daisies...every once in a while, glimpsing a butterfly flutter by.
Walking in the bright and beautiful masterpiece of our amazing Creator is such a delight!
-
"May the glory of the LORD
endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his
works..."
Psalm 104:31
(We sure did stop to admire the many details of the flowers on our walk...and I sure did wish I had brought my camera...but I didn't! Instead, a picture of our blossoming garden at home will have to suffice ;)
~Eliza

Snapshots of life lately

1:50:00 PM by 
There is no way we can write about all that has been going on lately, so to catch-up on our neglected blog I figured we could post some pictures and snippets of what we've been up to.
We've been...

...spending time with family and friends...

Now that this semester of school is done, we've had more time to catch-up and enjoy time with the people we love! Grandparents have returned from their winter---or should I say summer ;) ---down south and were greeted with lots of hugs! We have also been enjoying some fun movie nights. Oh, and of course we've made some time for shopping among the many other things! :)

***

...making music again...

We have been taking our violins out of their cases much more often than we were during school which is so much fun!

We've also been singing together, especially for Grandpa! ;)
***

...campaigning for Dad...

This has been keeping us busy...especially Katelyn because she has been going to some of the conventions, handing out campaign literature!

***

...planting herbs and planning our garden (which will hopefully be bigger and better than last year)...
Yep...this is as far as we've gotten in planting so far this year. However, our plans are bigger. ;)

***

...cleaning, organizing, rearranging furniture, and otherwise preparing for graduations...

Yesterday, we went to Denise's to make truffles for graduation. It was a perfect day to be inside baking when there was a continuous sprinkling rain outside! A few minutes ago, I caught Mom fixing our off-balance dishwasher and I just had to throw this picture in here! :) We've been getting all sorts of house projects done lately.
(Katelyn's LPN graduation ceremony will be a future post because this post is becoming ridiculously long!)
***
...and enjoying the snowfall in May!?!?!?!...

(which, thankfully, has since melted away)

***

Hopefully this helps to make up for our lack of posts lately and will get us back on track for posting more often...we'll see! :)

~Eliza

Budding Anticipation

3:04:00 PM by 
As I was lying on my bed reading my textbook with the glorious sunshine on me, I glanced up and saw...
budding spring-green leaves!!!
I just had to grab my camera, open my window wide, and try to capture this beautiful sight ;)
So...as I was leaning halfway out my window, my dad asks me what in the world I am taking a picture of---scaring me half to death, almost making me fall out my window!!!
Here he was...out enjoying the warm weather and swinging a golf club!
At last...summer is on it's way!
...and the countdown until school ends continues: only 10 more days to go! :)
Now, after this fun-filled break of 15minutes, I'd better get back to the books!
~Eliza

His Eye Is on the Sparrow...

8:07:00 PM by 
...and I know He watches me!

This morning is evidence! :) First of all, let me back up a few hours...
Ok...so yesterday I knew I would be up late into the night working on my clinical assignments for school (since you don't get your assignments until noon on Thurs. and they are due early Fri. morning!). I have another class that is later in the afternoon, and this cuts out a few hours from the time I have to write up all my super long assignments and review my nursing "skills"!
Long story short...I was up until midnight working on them and then finally collapsed into bed, after setting my two alarm clocks to get up at 5:15am (one for back-up just in case the other doesn't, for some odd reason, go off! ;)
Anyway, this morning I woke up to my dad asking me if I should be getting up and ready to go (to which I was thinking that I had left myself plenty of time to get ready before I had to be at clinicals at 6:45). When I looked over at my clock...to my petrified demise, it was 6:15...the time I was planning on leaving!!! Now, before you all freak-out and lose sleep from worring about me ;)...I'll just tell you that I made it there 5min early! (yep...now you know how fast I can get ready if I need to---and I sure was glad that I planned last night to get there extra-early---SIDE NOTE: my family knows that I can take the fastest or the longest shower...and nowhere in between! :) Although...today there was absolutely no time for even my fastest!
It was just amazing how everything worked out with such a late start:
my super-dad got me up just in the nick-of-time,
my wonderful sister whipped up a sandwich for my lunch, and
all of my nursing supplies and my scrubs were laid out to grab and go (which I had--not by chance--done last night)
Then, as I was driving there, I started singing praise to Him who is in control...when I was reminded of the verse I had read late last night right before I went to sleep:

"Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings."
~Psalm 63:7

Our Lord watches over the entire universe...yet His eye is on each one of us!
Praise the LORD!
~Eliza

A new way to exercise

11:36:00 AM by 
Forget the gym...just fit a lot of activities into your daily life at home! ;)

In just a few hours one morning I burned: 133 calories cleaning and 67 calories cooking

I also found it pretty interesting that playing my violin for 1 hour burns almost as many calories as cleaning with "vigorous effort" for the same amount of time...it uses up 111 calories!

At this website there is a list of many different activities, from pushing a stroller to running, where you can calculate the calories burned!

Disclaimer: just to clear things up...I am NOT counting my calories---no way---I just thought I'd share these fun facts after finding this website
for a project in school! :)
Also, I'm not saying you shouldn't exercise apart from your daily activities...nope, sorry! Exercise is very important in order to stay healthy---coming from one who usually gets around to it once a week! ;)
So...enjoy your cooking and cleaning a bit more this week as you "feel the burn" ;)
~Eliza

Adventure

4:46:00 PM by 
You've gotta love it when something small becomes an adventure...
***
For instance...this afternoon, while my friend and I were videotaping a nursing skills test-out, the fire alarm went off!!! Students are told to NEVER stop the video tape during a test-out. So, of course, we took that very seriously...to the extent that we didn't dare turn it off even when there could be a fire---this goes to show how dedicated nurses are ;)---and we decided to keep going unless someone came to tell us to stop. Part of our reasoning behind this is that almost every time a fire alarm goes off, there isn't a fire...as was the case today. A few minutes later, it turned off and we continued our test-out in peace! ;)
Probably the funniest part of this little "adventure" was that the video was running the entire time that we stood there, stunned, wondering and discussing about what we should do! It should definitely make our teacher laugh when she watches it!
It sure made us laugh!!!
Isn't it great when things happen totally out of the blue and help to break up the day? ;)
(You all are probably thinking at this point that I am crazy to be thinking of this as an adventure...but when you spend hours studying, little things become much bigger!)
~Eliza

6:36:00 PM by 
(Well...sorry we are delayed in our posting about love. We thought it would be a good idea to get some ideas flowing for our lack of posts lately...but, you see, it just isn't working (along with the fact that we've been way too busy)!)
***
OK...so maybe this is stretching it a bit...
***
We LOVE to bake!!!
tonight our specialty is toffee-chocolate chip shortbread cookies for our Dad :)
...because we LOVE him!!
***
We hope to post a more relevant post someday before our deadline of Valentine's day. We plan to post about how the Lord teaches us to live each day showing love towards others.
Wow, this isn't as easy as we thought...so much for a theme! ;)
~Katelyn and Eliza
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