A Bird in the Hand

This week has totally gotten away from me. So my Travel Log: Days 2-5 will be condensed into posts consisting of my favorite pictures. Be sure to scroll down and see all the pictures. I had to post in three posts in order to get all the pictures shown. With that said...

Let me tell you a story about The Mister. He is one of those people that only eats when he is hungry and usually sees eating just as a means of fueling all those muscles he's got (he's so going to roll his eyes when he sees that last sentence.). However, when we are traveling, or on vacation, he likes two treats to be on hand: Pringles and non-frosted strawberry Pop-Tarts.

Now, if I asked this amazing man of mine for a pair of diamond earrings, I could almost guarantee that in 17 days I would be opening up a pair of earrings for my birthday. This is why I have stopped thinking out loud about items that I may have whim about, because if I say it, he will remember it, and sooner or later I will have it.

I know, I know! You can call me spoiled. I completely agree. For the record, I am not complaining.

But, BUT! If we are on vacation, and he gets out that shiny packet with two golden colored non-frosted strawberry Pop-Tarts and I ask him for a bite? Well, that is crossing a line.

So imagine my surprise when the White-breasted Nut Hatch bird pictured above heard that wrapper being torn open and immediatly began to fly all around The Mister's head. He was flapping and chirping and causing a scene. Then he landed on The Mister's hand and took a nice big bite of strawberry Pop-Tart. The Mister didn't even bat an eye, he just let the bird take a bite without even his asking?

The kids were ecstatic! Here's the thing...all that chirping? Was a sound off to six of his Nut Hatch friends! Breakfast ended in quite a hurry that morning as we tried to put away the stuff we were eating!

I love this picture because The Boy is opening his presents from each of us on his real birthday. I love that in celebration of the Decade Birthday The Mister not only got me coffee, but hot cocoa for the kids too. The Girl loves her hot cocoa almost as much as I love my coffee.

The Boy thought this tree looked like Tree Beard so he climbed in and set a pose. Then he hollered for me to: "Take this picture Mom! It's perfect for you blog!" How sad is it that even my children are thinking up posts for me?

Below is a picture of the ever famous Grand Canyon Mules.

Confession: As a kid, and OK!, as a teen, young adult, early married, and probably even now, I have been a Brady Bunch fan. All I could think about while at the Grand Canyon is: "This looks just like the episode when the Brady's went to the Grand Canyon! I wonder if this is where they all stood? They drove their station wagon on this road! They road mules into the canyon!"

OK, I am done.

This was a picture taken on Wednesday morning, the last day before we headed to the cabin in Williams, AZ. We were at the halfway mark of our hike (or so we thought...in the end we had to walk back rounding out our 2 mile hike to 4!) The Girl had just been chased by a greedy squirrel (they are definitely used to humans!).

I was sitting back taking pictures of three of my favorite subjects. It was at this point that we were all finally letting go of stresses and "to-do" lists, and started to enjoy ourselves and our time together. It was then I stopped thinking about forgotten pillows, and expensive firewood and the fact that I had forgotten matches.

This is when I sat back and thought to myself...
...La Vida Dulce.

The Cabin

Our home for two days.

The kitchen.The kids "room".

A fresh shower. No make-up. My favorite spot at the cabin! The only thing better would have been a cup of coffee in hand!

Early morning. A cozy cabin. Two sleepy eyed kids. Fresh sourdough bread and butter for breakfast. Could there be anything better?

Our morning hike up the hill behind the cabin.

Visiting the Historical Route 66 in Williams, AZ.

Drive Down to Sedona

Red rocks that make Sedona famous!

Getting ready to hike down to the creek. We never made it. You had to walk through a fancy hotel to get to the creek and there was a beautiful wedding going on. We just couldn't stand to walk through that youngs gals wedding in our hiking grubs to see a dry river bed. So we turned around.

The formations are mind boggling!

This is a very beautiful Chapel of the Holy Cross built into the rock. I wish I could describe the peace and worshipfulness of this chapel. It is just beautiful. The picture above is the uphill walkway leading into the chapel.

Inside.

From the outside.

Montezuma's Castle National Park. A cliff dwelling built by the Sanigua Indians almost 800 years ago. This is about 30 miles south of Sedona.

The kids completed a couple of "research" things at the "castle" and were rewarded by becoming honorary junior Park Rangers.

After that we were on our way home. As if the trip couldn't get any better we were blessed with an amazing sun set that ended our trip in a way that I could not ever had planned.

La Vida Dulce!

Northeren Arizona Travel Log - Day one

I was exhausted as we pulled out of our driveway for our trip to Northern Arizona; to cooler weather and beautiful views.

It had been a whirlwind weekend, full of birthdays and beer festivals (side note: I took The Mister to a beer festival. We had the greatest time people watching! But that's for another post!) Our plan was to be packed up and out of here by 8:30 am. We made it out by the scheduled time, but I was so tired I decided that "if we didn't have it, we didn't need it."

I didn't realize until we were well out of the "turn around" stage that that statement would mean sleeping for four nights without pillows; or that we would be making our first road trip since The Girl was old enough to sit front-facing, without a DVD player. The player itself was actually in the car, but the correct plug was not. All i can say is thank goodness the kids now know how to read. And can do so without car sickness.


We made it to the Grand Canyon Village where we had planned to tent camp for 2 nights. We took our first walk to the canyon.
We arrived at the rim an hour (or so) before sunset and watched the colors change beneath the shadows. It was breath taking! People had already started coming to the rim for the sunset "show", placing blankets and folded up camp chairs on varied places along the edge.
We were all getting hungry for our first camp dinner of boil-in-a-bag-rice and canned chicken mixed together with a bit of canned mixed veggies (sound good huh?). Well, (and I am being totally serious here) our appetites were quickened and our senses teased when a pizza delivery guy walked passed us in the opposite direction on the trail, looking for the group who had ordered three large pizzas for their dinner. You should have seen the kids faces. The Boy said. "They deliver pizza all the way out here?!" Apparently, they do.

Grand Canyon village is like a little city. Between the fully equipped grocery store, the Canyon Cafe, post office, medical office and gift shops, there isn't much you can't get up there. We made a stop at the store on our way back to camp to pick up fire wood since we were told we couldn't gather wood; that it would be available for purchase. We figured on paying at a higher premium, we had no idea what that premium would be....$8.00 for about six pieces of wood.

The plan was to cook our quick dinner on a borrowed camping stove and then roast marshmallows over a fire (also kept for warmth, the temp dropped to 28 degrees that night) for smores. We ended up making what The Mister and I now refer to as the Rodeo Drive campfire. It was an Arizona fire, at California prices. It was worth it because....

That night we had our first adventure: the camping stove didn't work. This meant we were cooking over a fire very late at night .

More importantly, this also meant that my coffee in the morning was in complete and total danger of not happening!

Luckily I am married to the best man anywhere and he (without even my prompting) got up first thing in the morning and got me the biggest cup-of-joe he could find in the canyon. Don't you know I gave him a big smooch!! Oh, and have I mentioned lately how stinkin' cute he is too? But I digress.

But back to our dinner...Two hours after watching the pizza guy coming waltzing down the trail with hot pizzas, we were eating our first camp meal. We cooked the chicken and mixed veggies right in their tin cans and the rice in my good Caphalon sauce pan (I did actually get all the soot washed off, I was worried for a bit!). We all ate ravenously from our blue tin camping bowls. It tasted amazingly good. So good that The Boy and The Girl are still talking about how good it was exactly a week later. It goes to show you how powerful the seasoning of hunger can be...

It was so late that the kids were begging to go to bed and we completely forgot about the smores!

We all slept well that night and the adventures continued very early in the morning...

Come back tomorrow for Day 2!

La Vida Dulce!

Getting it Together

I am running into problems this morning with putting pictures into my first Travel Log post. Hopefully by this evening the first installment will be posted. Until then go over to:

It's Over Flowing

and watch the video on her post: Motherisms. If you are a mom, or have a mom, you will appreciate this video.

Thanks meh for telling me about it!

I'm Back!!!

Although you probably didn't even know I had gone.

Well, It's true. We've been gone. A BIG! thank you to meh , my Blog-sitter.

The Mister and I took the kids on a trip to Northern Arizona and the Grand Canyon. We left early on Monday and returned last night.

It was a blast. No Phones. No Computer. No Make-up (Oh! I did miss my mascara, I won't lie). No working out (except for those daily hikes).

There was laughter, campfires, mishaps, smores, camp food (chips EVERY! DAY!), there were wild animals, amazing weather (no snow!!!!), and lots of funny stories. Next week I will give recaps of the five days we spent together.

Of course vacation is now over as we jump back into real-life this morning cleaning up our camp stuff and doing laundry between the soccer games and running errands.

Again, a big thanks to meh for blog-sitting. And to The Parents for dog-sitting (note to self: don't forget to pick up Kona today), and to Lenny, the Amazing house-sitting Beta fish, who not only stayed all by himself keeping guard of the house all week, but lived to tell us all about it. (How many times can I use the word "all" in one sentance?)

OK, I gotta go get my chores done so that I can sit down and catch up with all y'alls blogs and emails!

La Vida Dulce!

Friday Fun

I love those moments in parenting when something happens and all of a sudden your kids think you are really cool.

That happened two Fridays ago.

A couple years ago I wrote this post about the Friday song.

I have continued to sing that song over the years, especially to the kids as I walk into their rooms to wake them up on Friday mornings. Usually when I walk in the room The Boy looks at me with a bit of, I like that you do this, but I am going to act a bit like I don't.

The Girl likes it too, but being less of a morning person usually just covers her head with her quilt.

What I didn't know was that the radio station here still plays that song on Fridays! Normally in the morning I will put on a music CD because it gets the kids movin' and helps them get ready for school with a bit more hitch in their get-a-long, if you know what I mean. Last Friday around 7:15 I switched on the radio. I was getting lunches together when the Friday Song began to play.

The kids came running into the kitchen with wide eyes and crazy jumping, saying "That radio is playing YOUR Friday song!!!! How did they know YOUR Friday song?"

Throw Back Thursday

I don't know who started this but for the sake of spending some time with the kids on their break I want to post something brief, if not a little embarrasing.

So here is my first installment of Throwback Thursday.

Check out the 80's permed hair and, yes, somebody wrote "Where's the Beef?" as a caption because that was the catchiest phrase on TV at the time.

Go ahead and laugh. I am laughing with you!

Soccer Girl

I was a ballerina girl myself. As a matter of fact I have taught ballet on and off since I graduated from high school.

At the end of the summer I asked The Girl if she wanted to do Ballet or Tap this semester. She looked at me and said "Soccer!"

So she's playing soccer, and loving it.

Happy Double Digits

Dear Sweet Boy,

It is amazing to me that you celebrate a decade of living today. You came into the world a 9 and a half pound contented bundle and you are just as sweet today.

I have a thousand and one things I could tell you today, but I do want you to know this: Your Dad and I are so very proud of you.

This weekend we saw that your adorable younger (boy) cousins got the hair cut, just like yours and that made me feel so happy. Not because I think your hair is the best part about you (although it's very nice), but because I know that you know they look up to you, and you know respect is earned.

At your birthday party this weekend it was fun to see you hang out with your friends and cousins, and your little sister (and grandparents and aunts and uncles) and see you engage each of them with love and affection.

I had a moment at your party when I wanted to weep because it became very clear that you are growing up. After the presents were all opened and you had read the last card, I was just about to prompt you to say "Thanks You" to all who were watching you open the gifts, but you did it on your own. You just proudly looked up and said, "Thanks for coming everybody".

Sweetheart, I thank God for you everyday and am so grateful that you are my son.

Happy 10th birthday!

Love,
Mom

Saturday Sunrise on a Monday Morning

I talked The Girl into going with me to watch the sunrise after I posted on Saturday! It was amazing!

Happy Monday!

Crazy Thoughts on an Early Saturday Morning

I really wanted today to be a Sleep-In Saturday. But my body is so programmed to be up at a certain time in the morning that I think it's stuck. Or maybe it's that I am getting old.

This morning I woke up at 4:41, told myself it was Saturday, the only day of the week that I try not to get up before the crack of dawn, and tried to fall back asleep. It didn't work. I found myself composing a blog entry in my head on the tragedy of waking up early on a Saturday.

Every morning my alarm is set to wake me up at precisely 5:03 am. Why 5:03? Well, it started many years ago when I wanted to get up early but five in the morning seemed such an ungodly hour, but that's when I needed to be up if I wanted to have sometime for myself. Somehow 5:00 o'clock seemed a little too close to 4:59, which would mean that I was getting up when it was still four in the morning, so three minutes into the five o'clock hour seemed more agreeable to me.

Hey, we all have our quirks.

In the last few weeks I have been waking up before the alarm at almost the exact same time every morning: 4:44. I could jump out of bed and get a start in the day but usually, I lay in bed like a dog in a "down-stay" until the alarm goes off. The automatic timer on the coffee pot won't have my coffee ready until 5am. If I get out of bed an earlier it won't be ready, and that is no fun.

This morning, I wake up and it's still dark. I look at the clock.

Its 4:41am.

Oh rats! It's Saturday, roll over and go to sleep.

Bad idea. My bladder is about to explode, which means I have to get out of bed and walk across the room to the bathroom. The chances of falling asleep after getting out bed are pretty slim. How long can I hold it? Hmmm, what time is it again? Don't open both eyes when you look at the clock, if both eyes aren't open maybe the body won't think it's awake. No, if you get up it's over, if you sleep on your back you might not have to get up for at least another hour.

4:43am -

Go back to sleep. Go BACK to sleep! I'm not going to be able to concentrate on sleep if my bladder is full, maybe if go quickly to the bathroom, don't open your eyes and try not to think too much, then get back into bed close your eyes and go back to sleep.

4:44 am -

OK! all is good. Go back to sleep...

4:46 am -

If I get up I could blog since I didn't have time to write yesterday...I wonder if my coffee is ready?

4:48 -

This is ridiculous. Get up and get going!

And here I am. Now it is 5:43 and I have downed my first cup of coffee and I am ready for seconds.

Who knew that almost a decade ago when getting up early, (something I had to MAKE myself do) would become a problem of the opposite issue. Now, I have find a way to be able to sleep in one morning of the week!

Actually, I think I will take my (2nd) cup of coffee and my camera outside and get some pictures of the sunrise. In the mornings when I am running while the sun comes up I always feel sad that I don't have my camera. That alone is worth waking up early!

Happy Weekend!

(An early morning) La Vida Dulce!

Baking Dream

Y'all, I have so much to do today and all I want to do is bake.

I checked out Martha Stewarts, Baking Handbook, again, from the library. I am sure that the librarians think I am the biggest goon, checking and re-checking this book out. I need to just go buy this thing.

Today I have a ton of errands to run and things to do to prepare for the next few weeks. But all I can think about is how this morning, when I woke up, it was 69 degrees outside.

Friends, fall is coming to the desert. It's a beautiful thing. When fall happens I want to be making ginger bread and pumpkin loaf cake and and trying some new recipes. Oh yeah, and my coffee consumption goes up exponentially. It's all good!

I was thinking about the pumpkin patch and sweatshirts and Cookie, the blue heating blanket. I was thinking about spiced apples in puff pastry....and I don't even enjoy cooked fruit.

One of my goals for the fall break is to learn to make pastry dough. I have never tried this because I have felt a bit intimidated by it. But I think I can handle it, and now that it isn't 110 degrees outside ( although it will still get to 91 today) I think it is cool enough to try.

I have been reading up on pastry dough, not just in Martha's book, but in a few other cookbooks I have checked out lately. Speaking of, I just love this cook book, it reads like a novel, with stories about where and when she first used a recipe and other great stories of her being a chef. It's as fun to read as it is a great resource for recipes! I plan to check it out again soon. But I digress...

So instead of enjoying this fall time dream I am going to go to the gym, then to Costco; get the oil changed in the car; run to the book store to find a book The Boy put on his Birthday Wish List; run to the department store to buy new undershirts for The Mister; try to find out where I can get a Piñata for The Boy's birthday party on Sunday, and then try to get home to shower before I get the kids from school. At some point, I need to finish the breakfast dishes, make my bed, start a load of towels in the washer, make dinner, and get the kids to soccer practice.

But in my daydreams I will be in my kitchen whipping up a batch of Cranberry Pecan Rye Bread (pg 298), or Maple Walnut cupcakes (pg 164), or Spice Sandwich Cookies (pg 105) or..... or..... or.....

Is fall coming to you yet? And what are you dreaming about?

Random poll September- What's for Dinner?

I love cookbooks.

Several years ago my mom gave me some cookbooks that had been taking up space on her book shelf. One of them was Meta Given's Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking (1969). It's the updated one. The original being copyrighted in 1947.

This is where my favorite biscuit recipe is found. And my favorite flapjacks and waffle recipe. And...and...and...

Anyway, I have used this cook book so much over the years (mostly for baking) that the spine is cracked and the pages are yellow. When you open it a light dusting of flour falls on the counter top.

What I love more than the recipes is the inscription to my Mom & Dad from my great aunt Gertrude:

I wish for you, you
will be as happy as
you were on your wedding days always
Love
Aunt Gertrude

This past weekend I pulled out the floury book because I had promised June Cutoff Cash my biscuit recipe. I found myself reading the introduction and first chapter of this old cook book. Amazingly, the info on calories and food choice don't differ much from what people are telling us today. It seems Ms. Givens was as smart as she was gifted in cooking. Sixty years later lean proteins, veggies, fruits and whole grains are still the recommended way to balance our diets.

What I found interesting is that there is a whole chapter on the importance of feeding your family that I feel is lost in our "make it quick and convenient" culture we live in today. After the Table of Contents, and other reference helps she opens her book with the:

Meal Planners Creed:

The health of my family is in my care; therefore-

I will spare no effort in planning meals containing the right kinds of food in the right
amounts.

Spending the food dollar to get the most for it is my job; therefore -

I will choose foods from a wide variety, variously priced to save money without sacrificing health.

My family's enjoyment of food is my responsibility; - therefore

I will increase thier pleasure by preparing a variety of dishes attractive in color and form and pleasing in flavor and texture.

My family's health, security, and pleasure depend on my skill planning meals; therefore-

I will treat my job with the respect due it.

I loved reading this because sometimes the monotony of the evening meal gets in the way of my ability to see what a huge job I have in teaching my children how to fuel their bodies. It is a responsibility, but also a privilege! Sometimes I treat it like the "ill-tempered" fry cook from Mels Diner. Do you remember him?

I was inspired by Meta's encouragement to take cooking seriously! So my question for tonight (and tomorrow for you East-Coasties), whether you cook for a family of 10 or a family of 2:

What are you making for dinner?

If it's reservations, that's OK! Sometimes, we need that too! Tell me where you went (or ordered in)! Also, I will post my biscuit recipe in the comments for everyone!

La Vida Dulce

Times a Tickin', Tickin' Away!

Ahhuuuggghhhh!!!


Where has September gone? How can it already be half over?

The Blog may be a bit slow these next few weeks. This is the last week of school before the kids are on a fall break until mid October. This week I am preparing for The Boy's birthday and getting ready to have them home with me, which I love. I thought I would take a some time to drink my smoothie-lunch and type away at ya.

If you get a chance you should mosey on over to Biding My Time and wish meh a happy birthday. He latest post is all about shoes, which is why we are friends! meh, Happy Birthday my friend. I wish I could come over and make you a big 'ole home made chocolate cake and sit right down and eat it with you!

Last week was teacher conferences for both the kids. I just love where the kids are going to school right now. As a side note, If you are a teacher out there in blogger-land, I appreciate you! You're job is not an easy one!

Here is one thing that is so weird about teacher conferences for me. I always feel weepy during them. Now, I don't get all blubbery and do the ugly cry or anything, as a matter of fact the teachers probably don't even know I feel this way, but I have to hold my emotions in a lot while they are talking about my kids. Both teachers had nice things to say about my kids. They also gave areas where both kids could work harder (because we will never lack areas in our lives where we can improve) which I appreciate and respect. Both The Girl and The Boy are doing well in school so I can't figure out where the emotions come from. In the past I thought perhaps it was nervousness, but this time I wasn't at all nervous. I have been working in the classrooms for a couple of months and I feel really comfortable with both teachers. Anyway, are any of you Mom's out there the same way? Or am I just the weirdest bird on the planet?

OK, time is a tickin'. This always happens to me. I think that the kids will start school and I will have all this time to do "stuff" and the next thing you know September is half way over and then it's Thanksgiving...and Christmas...and the New Year!!! AUUGHHH!!!

All right, lunch is over, have a Happy Monday!

Fourth Grade Science and Second Grade Singer

The Boy is learning about water systems in in science (his favorite subject) right now. For the last 48 hours this has been my life:

~While boiling water...

Mom! Do you know what is happening right now? The heat is causing all those water molecules to bounce around. Do you know what happens then the molecules form steam.

~When drinking iced tea...

Mom! Do you see that? Do you know what that is? The ice in your cup is causing condensation on the outside of you cup!

~When filling the dog bowl...

Mom! How much do you think Kona drinks? How much do you think is lost from evaporation?

~Meawhile...

The Girl is driving everyone crazy because I found a CD I had that was a seasonal sampler of some Broadway shows that a received several years ago (I LOVE musical theater!). I was listening to it and their are several songs from Annie.

The Girl asked if she could borrow and then proceeded to listen, for almost two, to those three songs from Annie, over and over, and over, again. Which makes me have an idea of what my parents went through when I was a kid. Because I did the same exact thing.

Of course, The Boy, when he heard the phrase, "Bet your bottom dollar there be sun." He replied, "Not if those clouds carry precipitation!"

Last night, in my sleep, I was singing "Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya! Tomorrow! Your only a...DAYYYYYYYY.. AAAAAA....WAAYYYYYYYYY!!!"

Suddenly

Today has been full, but reflective.

Today was the first day of Ladies Bible Study at our new church. I was nervous. This is one of the hard parts of the "moving" routine: walking into a group a women, who all know each other, and try to be friendly; try to act normal, as if I just walk into groups of strangers everyday.

I was cringing as I walked to the church door because I have been involved in enough ladies bible studies to know that we are going to play mixer games and do weird stuff like "interview the person next to you and then tell the group about this person".

Several years ago, while I was leading the worship team for Ladies Bible study in Texas I became overwhelmed with anxiety over performing. It came out of nowhere and it hasn't gone away. People are often surprised that I have nervousness. But I always do. When I go somewhere new, when I sing in front of people, when I speak in front of people. The older I get, the worse the nerves get. It is very ridiculous, but for the moment it's the way it is.

So I get to the bible study and all is going fairly well. We are doing a Beth Moore bible study on the book of Daniel.

Here's the thing: it was this very bible study that I started with my Carolina Girls at the first of this year. I came to the first meeting, watched the video, said good bye, and we moved. So all these sweet memories of that night came flooding into my heart and mind and suddenly I am homesick, but not just for my NC girls, but for my Texas girls too (several who don't even live in TX anymore).

It was hard to walk into that room of 150 women and not know anybody. It was difficult as I saw these gals laughing with one another, talking about each others kids, and loving on each other and not be "one of the girls."

When I left the church, everyone was still hanging out and talking. I slipped out quietly, no one even knew I had gone. As I drove out of the parking lot I longed to call one of my friends, but with each name that went through my head I decided it was best to be quiet. To sit in the quiet. To feel sorry for myself, for just a minute. 60 seconds, not one second more.

There is no time for self pity here, there are Suddenly's happening all around me. Circumstances that are far more staggering than mine.

Of course it's September 11th, and today I couldn't help but think of that morning six years ago when suddenly the world didn't feel so safe anymore. It's those Suddenly's in life that are hard.

Yesterday I was reading a blog that I periodically frequent, written by a brave and courageous woman, wife and mother who is fighting brain cancer. She has links to other women who share in her struggles. One of them died yesterday and although I never knew her, never commented on her blog, I feel heavy hearted about her young husband and toddler son who will carry heartache in the days to come. Been praying for him all day today because it's the only way I can deal with the Suddenly's. Even the Suddenly's of people I will never meet.

Suddenly, walking into a room full of strangers, a room full of potential friends seems like the best thing that could have happened today.

Weekend in Pictures

The Girl demonstrates how big and deep and shiny the new sink is!

The Mister and I start to tackle the "Honey-Do" list.
Here we are picking weeds.

I think you missed one!

Lenny got a new bowl while his other was being cleaned.
He doesn't like this bowl.
So he got his cookie-jar condominium back.

After chores, the kids got a little computer time.

The Girl says "Mom, I am not getting in that sink again."

Doing some laundry. While watching a movie.

Uno with The Mister.
The Girl won 6 games in a row.
Which is why I don't play very often.
It's very hard to win.

Rising Rolls.

All in all, a fantastic weekend!

La Vida Dulce

Seven Mile Motivation

Still training for the big 10 miler on October 21. Today was a long run day. A seven-mile-long run day. What motivates me? Today, two things:

1. Passage Isaiah 40:31:
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

2.

Worth Every. Single. Mile.

Happy Sunday!