oh we love you...

our amazing friend katy just had her 29th birthday and we were able to have a surprise double date with she and her husband. it was wonderful to have an evening out with them! and we all felt pretty sneaky as katy arrived to our house blindfolded and david schlepped her all through our yard and over bushes and fences to throw her off our trail!















katy, you are so beautiful and we cherish you. we were so glad to get to be a part of your birthday celebration.
much love...

an aussie holiday

i got an exciting email this past week from my friend, amy ruth, who was my bunkmate when i was on the mercy ship. she has been traveling the globe for the last 7 months and she is currently in the states. she got in touch with me to tell me that she could come down to visit for the afternoon and i was thrilled! she is incredibly inspiring - not only is her personality inspiring, but her faith is very inspiring as well. she is from australia and has one last month of travel here before heading back home. i was so honored that she made the trip down and spent the afternoon with us. her stories are unbelievable and i could listen to her talk in her wonderful accent all day long!

thank you so much for coming to visit, amy ruth! it was wonderful to see you! hopefully next time we meet it will be vacationing on your soil!

autumn.

i think ryan and i would both readily admit that winter is hard for us. we both have a touch of seasonal depression as the leaves fall and the weather changes. as the autumnal equinox just passed, i think each of us felt a slight twinge of sorrow as we know what is to come. don't get me wrong, i love autumn, but i love spring even more. with spring, there is the hope of three glorious seasons in a row. and of course, winter has some great perks - hot chocolate, snuggling under blankets, fires in the fireplace, and of course Christmas! but, even though there is much goodness in winter, it is still a hard season for us. (i must say that our families are probably scoffing right now as winter in virgnia is a piece of cake in comparison to indiana! they could all tell you we've gone soft!)

anyway, i was met by an email today that indeed confirmed that summer is over. i was told that our last box of produce would be coming this week and then we were on our own for the rest of the year. i have certainly had to get creative using up things that i had never tried before this summer - collards, kohlrabi, tomatillos, parsnips and such. and there have been a few meals that we would collectively admit were not a huge success, but it was a great experience overall. and lily LOVED opening up the box each week to see what deliciousness lay there for her to enjoy!

so, as the last box came today, i figured i'd capture her sentiments regarding dave matthew's goodness that we've enjoyed all summer. it's been a bit like christmas for her on a weekly basis...

visions

my dear sister whitney has been telling me over and over how i need to make a "vision board." it is a board that you put pictures on or write dreams and goals on and apparently after putting it down in print, the likelihood of you successfully achieving this goal is increased. whit's boyfriend, jim, swears by the board. and rumor has it that even nastia liukin had a board - and it seems it did her some good, right?

anyway, i bring this up because prior to my birthday, i told ryan that i wanted to write down life goals together that we have individually and as a family (apparently i was feeling quite inspired on this particular day!) anyway, my husband is a man of many lists, and i should have known that he was a step ahead of me. he told me he would oblige, but that he already had his own "vision board" on a piece of paper in his wallet. life got busy, ryan was on call, and things got in the way and we did not get around to it.

i tell you all of this because my husband is wonderful. wonderful. i had hoped to discuss our visions together due to somewhat selfish desires. my wish was that if i told him what i dreamed of, he would jump on board with me and help these dreams become a reality. well, when my birthday rolled around, it was as if ryan and my vision board had gotten together and planned it all out.

one of my deepest desires is that ryan and i and our family would be able to serve on the mercy ship very regularly once he is done with residency. i would LOVE to be able to go for a month each summer as our family gets older. ryan could operate, i could work in the OR and our children would get the most rich cultural experiences possible. well, the first gift i received from ryan was a book on the mercy ships. beautiful. how well done, ryan.

a second desire that i have is a bit embarrassing. anyone who knows me well would be able to tell you that being graceful or flexible are not two of my stronger traits. (although as a child i was sure i was a star ballerina!) however, i truly hope that one day i could be a yoga instructor. i have loved the classes i have taken and while i am definitely still a novice, i hope that one day i will be more than that. i have even looked into yoga schools here in virginia. well, my very sweet husband got me a new bag for my yoga mat that is rockin. and his brothers got me an awesome new mat that is SO plush in comparison to my tattered old one. AND, ryan signed me up for a semester of yoga classes! ALL of this without ryan and i discussing this goal of mine! two nights ago i attended my first class and i felt so spoiled as i headed out alone to enjoy and hour and a half of teaching. (and nervous as there is always a high likelihood that i will make a fool of myself!) but, it was wonderful. i left the class a bit more stretched out and certainly a bit more peaceful. thank you so much, ryan. you are amazing and so very good to me.

maybe i don't need a vision board afterall. what do you think, whit? does posting it online for all to read help you reach your dreams?...

love...

to our families,
we adore you. thank you for your constant love and support.
love,
us