Every night Floyd and I have the duty to take our dog Aleah outside to do her duties.  I’ll admit last week, I don’t think I did my fair share.  But this week, I’ve certainly been doing a good deal of walking the little miss every night.  A couple of nights ago I asked Floyd to join us.  And I have to say it made the obligation of walking the dog much more pleasant!  The evenings have been so beautiful lately, it’s hard not to enjoy a leisurely stroll, even if it just lasts 15 minutes.  Now that Floyd’s back into a schedule with school, we see less of each other.  So I enjoy the moments we do get to spend together and our little doggie!

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As you’ve probably learned by now, Floyd and I consider our Christian faith to be the cornerstone of our marriage.  And it’s been pretty amazing to see how God has grown our faith just in the time we’ve been married.  When you move around as much as we have, you have to really lean on each other and your faith to make it through a lot of transitions.  We both grew A LOT during our time in Kansas, and we have our dear friends, the MacKinneys, to credit for a lot of that.  They were a terrific support system for us.  Before we moved here, Floyd even took the big step of getting baptized.  It was awesome, awesome.

Since we’ve been in Iowa, we’ve been attending a great church, and until late this spring had also been a part of a small group Bible study.  But our small group leaders moved to Des Moines.  With that, our group had dwindled to 4 people.  So the four of us put in a request to be lumped into a new group.  It came down to the fact that the church had a group of people ready to make a group, but no one had stepped up to the plate and volunteered to be a group leader.  So I did.  We’re now less than a week away from the time I’ve established for our first group meeting.  I know it will be an additional time commitment on top of our already busy schedules, but I feel like it will be a great way to keep me on top of my relationship with God.  It’s easy to get busy and not make certain things a priority.  But now, small group leadership will become a part of my routine.  And I look forward to challenging myself in this way.  I know that for both Floyd and I, it will certainly be a step in continuing to build on our faith.  And I pray that I’m blessed with the right words to say at the right times, to help guide and mentor those that will be in our group.

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I know I’m pregnant, and yes I acknowledge that my waistline is expanding as a result of the little boy that’s growing inside of me.  I get it.  I’m not fond of people touching my stomach, but I can handle it.  Here’s what I’m not so crazy about:  belly bump pictures.  I have so many friends that have gone ga-ga in posting pictures online of their growing stomachs every few weeks, and that’s just fine if that’s what they’re comfortable with.  For me, I’m just not so over the moon about showing to the world my growth!  You can see it in person, but pictures just aren’t my thing.  (I’m on TV after all, enough people can witness the changes every night!  haha)  Again, I get it– getting bigger is part of the process.  But I don’t need to plaster proof of that for the world to see.  It’s just a personal choice, and I hope the people pestering me for those pictures can respect that.

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I do not like golf.  I fall asleep if it’s on TV and it moves entirely too slow for me to enjoy playing it.  But I am one of the few people in my family that shares these sentiments about the sport.  My grandparents golf, my parents golf, and Floyd golfs.  Floyd would love it if I’d re-take up the sport, but I just simply don’t enjoy it.  So I commit to playing one round a year with him, and that’s my status quo! 

Floyd and a couple of co-workers are set to play in a tournament this coming weekend.  And he hasn’t swung a club since we golfed with my grandparents in Arizona this past March.  So needless to say, he’s a bit rusty.  He wanted to go out to the driving range and  hit a bucket of balls just to brush up a little bit before the upcoming weekend. 

I tagged along, and even hit a half dozen or so balls myself.  I just enjoyed watching him have a good time.  And it was much more tolerable to be at the range than going from hole to hole on the full course!  I told him I can handle range trips anytime.  Maybe that’ll help satisfy his appetite for the sport, since he doesn’t get a chance to play all that often.  And I’m not opposed to knocking off a few at the range, too—which he seems to immensely enjoy.  It’s all about compromise, right? 

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After a nice summer break, Floyd’s life is getting back on schedule.  Classes are in session and the alarm now buzzes at 5:15 a.m. for him to get up and going for school.  My schedule has been totally off whack this week with my trip to Dallas for Steave’s funeral.  To accommodate for the time I took off, I am working today which is my usual day off.  I’ve just been thinking about how next Friday will be without my at-home husband!  It’s been so nice to spend both Fridays and Saturdays with Floyd.  But now, we’ll go back to just our Saturdays together.  I have to say I will definitely miss it.  It will also mean that a lot of our projects will slow down in how much we can get done.  But I’m glad that we’re getting back into a rhythm at the same time.

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So I’m back from the emotional weekend in Dallas, where my cousin Steaven was memorialized after losing his long battle with cancer.  My dad and I were two of the four speakers at the service.  What I dreaded the most was being able to handle the emotions of my aunt and uncle and Steaven’s wife, Karen.  But what got me the most was how they affected my dad.  Toward the end of his speech, dad really cracked up when he got to talking about how special Karen is to all of us, and how much she enriched Steaven’s life.  He’d avoided even looking her direction until that point in his talk.  And when he started to lose it, so did my mom, brother, and me. 

I have to say that funerals certainly are never easy,  but it’s nice when you can come away from a service and feel touched– that the deceased has truly been honored, and that the words spoken uplift and challenge you to live life without regrets, to the fullest, and without taking even the smallest of its treasures for granted.  It also makes you think about how the way you live your life affects everyone around you.  I think we all hope that when our time comes we are remembered fondly.  And if hundreds filling a chapel to standing-room only capacity is any indication, Steaven certainly left his mark.

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As a follow up to my last blog.. wow– an incredible surprise this week.  We got the first gift item from our baby registry in the mail yesterday.  It was the crib bedding set.  The gift note inside, “Congratulations!  We love you- Karen & Steaven”.  It was shipped on Saturday, two days before Steaven died.  For Karen to have even remotely thought of us, to get us a gift for our baby boy when her husband was at death’s door is incredibly selfless and amazing to me.  She is a true gem.  I sat down with tear filled eyes and wrote her a gushing thank you note about how wonderful it is for Drake to have a piece of them as he enters this world.  I also told her that as much as I will miss Steaven, I will equally miss having her at family gatherings.  Her many acts of kindness, including this one, will mean she always holds a fond place in my heart.  I’m blessed to know and love her.

 

                             

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One of the most challenging issues any of us have to deal with is the loss of a loved one.  As my loyal readers know, my cousin Steaven was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and my aunt, uncle and his wife have all been preparing for the worst for quite some time.  Last week, the hospice doctor told them that he only had a few days left to live.  Steaven passed away Monday night.  I’ll be heading out to Dallas, Texas in a few days to attend the memorial.  Since it’s the start of a new school year, Floyd will be holding down the fort here in Iowa. 

Since Steaven and I are several years apart in age, we weren’t extremely close.  But it’s still not easy to see a life lost before age 50.  I haven’t broken down and cried yet.  I did get teary eyed on  my way home from work Tuesday night when I heard the old hymn “I’ll Fly Away” on the radio.  But I know the most difficult part of all this will be seeing my wonderful aunt and uncle, and Steave’s wife Karen at the memorial service.  I have been asked to get up and say a few words and give a scripture reading during the funeral.  That won’t be easy either.  But I am honored to do what I can to support my family. 

I am a true believer that all things in this life happen for a reason, and that God works in us and through  us to make us stronger in our most difficult of times.  Our resolve is tested, but we come out tougher for the wear and with a new level of “angel training” as I call it, for the day when we too will meet with Him in eternity. 

God rest your soul, Steaven.  You are loved and will be missed.

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It’s still so hard to believe how summer has come and gone in a flash!  Floyd reports back to school WEDNESDAY and students will be back in class with him next week.  He’s made a few trips back and forth to the schools the past couple of weeks to do a bit of organizing and is starting to plan activities for the first days of classes.  Today, he planned to head back to one of the schools and clean off all of his computers and computer desks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They’ve collected a lot of dust over the summer!  He asked if I wanted to go with him, and at first, I was kind of hesitant.  (Doesn’t sound like too much fun, does it?)  But I ended up agreeing.  We spent an hour or so wiping everything down and getting things just about ready for the return of students.  In the end, I’m glad I went to help.  We listened to music, talked, and enjoyed each other’s company.  There have been several times when he has stepped up to the plate to help me with a work assignment or task, so it’s the least I could do to return the favor!

 

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Back to recipe time!  A couple of nights ago I had baked up some chicken for whatever I was making that night, and had a couple extra pieces.  So I put them in the refrigerator to slice up and make something else with them another day.  Floyd took it upon himself to decide I was making one of our “household favorite” dishes, which I hadn’t made in a while.  What’s impressive is that he actually had already gone to the store and picked up the few extra items we didn’t have on hand so that I could whip it up.  So now, I’ll share the recipe with all of you!  (I can’t take personal credit for creating this recipe.  A friend shared it with me at a Pampered Chef party several years ago, and it’s become a favorite.)

Chicken Ring

2 tubes low-fat crescent rolls 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts–cooked, cut into small pieces 1 green pepper, cut into pieces 1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained 1 cup (or so) shredded cheddar cheese 1 can cream of chicken soup 1 can cream of mushroom soup 1 cup (or so) fresh or frozen broccoli florets

Preheat oven to 375. 

Lay all the rolls around in a circle on either a baking stone or pizza pan, pinching together the wide part of the dough in the middle and leaving the triangle part hanging off.  Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl.  Then scoop your mixture onto the rolls. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you fill up the ring all the way around, tuck the triangle end up over the top.  Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes.  Slice, serve and enjoy!

                              The terrific thing about this recipe is you can so easily modify and add or change things to suit your taste.  You can add black olives, sliced almonds, onion, you name it!  You can even change around the base and use a gravy mix, then add turkey, cranberries, etc. and make a Thanksgiving-style ring.  It’s so easy to make, and always turns out tasting great.  Bonus—the leftovers are awesome, too!

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