Just Me, Barnes, and Noble

I am really beginning to love this Barnes and Noble.  Who knew the grating of espresso machines could be so calming.  We are in day #13 of our trip.  Some days are really fun, and some days seem to drag by.  My calendar now consists of Sundays and Wednesdays.  Then there are some days in between that have to be filled with something. 

Things we have found to do:
Walmart
The city park - which of course has disc golf.  Tyler took Evelyn with him to play the other day.  When they got there, Evelyn asked, "Where's Cody?"
Mall - it is very small, which is weird becuase Pueblo is bigger than Fayetteville
Thrift Store - it's HUGE.  It is by far the biggest thrift store I have ever been to.  And it's cheap.  Tyler discovered it on Wednesday, and at least one member of our family has been there for the past three days.

On Tuesday, we went to the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo.  I think it would be more interesting at night, but it was nice to walk around.

My attempt to be artsy

On Wednesday night, we went to Fountain Independent Baptist Church in Fountain, CO.  The church is in the middle of downtown in a 140 year old building.  I didn't need to know anything else, I was already in love.  They had a class for Evelyn to go to, which made me love them more.  And they were super nice people, which didn't hurt.  Evelyn's performance after church made me realize that she gets away with too much at church, and she knows it.  

So yesterday, at the thrift store, I bought Dr Dobson's book, "The Strong-Willed Child."  I am almost finished with it.  There is nothing in it that I didn't know, but I have found it to be a very good reminder of what we should and shouldn't do with her.  I have definitely identified some things we were doing wrong.  So today, I have put some of his advice into practice.  It is fairly easy to do at home, we'll see how I do at church on Sunday.

Speaking of Sunday, we will be in Taos, New Mexico.  We are actually going there tomorrow morning and will stay in their missions quarters Saturday night.  I am excited about the change in scenery.

Evelyn quote of the day:

Evelyn (randomly):  Outer space is icky.
Me:  Why?
Evelyn:  Because it's icky in outerspace.
Me:  What makes it icky?
Evelyn:  Well, there's loud noises.
Me:  What else?
Evelyn:  A scary table and a scary alligator.


Bonus:  Evelyn asking "Where's Cody?" has reminded me of another story...

Evelyn:  We're going to see Nanna and Bots and Lyndi.  What's Lyndi's boy's name?
Tyler:  Kevin  (Lyndi is married to Kevin)

Not funny, but you had to know that to get this

Evelyn:  What's daddy's boy's name?
Tyler:  I don't know
Evelyn:  It's Cody

From Colorado With Love

So, the place we are staying in for the next 5 weeks doesn't have wifi.  That will make it a little harder to post, but I am determined.  Right now, I am sitting at Barnes and Noble, like all serious bloggers do.  I wonder if all the other serious bloggers head to the Christian Romance section of the store after they finish blogging.  Another amazing thing about this experience is that I am here alone!  I haven't been alone for 3 weeks...probably longer.  I suppose only other moms (especially those with newborns) can truly share the joy of this moment with me.  Or maybe I am a bad mom...

We are in Pueblo, Colorado.  It is a beautiful place.  It's as flat as Kansas, but much more interesting.  It seems much more "wild west" plus you can see the mountains.  We will be here for 5 weeks, so I am sure we will be doing a lot of exploring, but for now, the only places I have been are Walmart and this Barnes and Noble. 

Yesterday we visited Highlands Baptist Church in the Middle of Nowhere, Colorado, and Beulah Valley Baptist Church in Beulah, CO. 

Technically Highlands BC is in Boone, CO, but I consider anywhere that you have to drive 15 miles on a dirt road to get to the Middle of Nowhere.  We were there for morning services, a potluck, and afternoon services.  The highlights:  Tyler spoke three times.  The people were super nice and loved Evelyn.  The nursery didn't have a/c. 

Beulah is one of the neatest places I have ever been to.  It's a tiny little town in the mountains...well, in a valley.  Everything is built really close together, but it felt cozy instead of crowded.  It's the kind of small town that I wouldn't mind living in.  The highlights:  There are 8 members.  There is no nursery.  Evelyn and Harrison combined to make it one of the most stressful church services of my life.  At one point, we were all three sitting in the foyer (since there was nowhere else to take them) crying.  It's funny now, it wasn't funny then. 

Traveling this much with a newborn and an Evelyn is not all bunnies and rainbows.  It's hard sometimes, really hard.  But the hard times pass, and then I have two sleeping kids.  :)  Seriously, God remindes me daily how much He loves me...even through the screaming kids and stressful traveling. 

Today was a great day.  No one has had any meltdowns, including me.

Evelyn and Harrison are really enjoying our Colorado chalet.

Evelyn Quote of the Day:

I honestly can't think of one.  Not that she hasn't said hilarious stuff, I just don't remember.  Perhaps because of the stress of the last few days.  So, I will go to the archives and pull out one of my dad's favorites.

Evelyn (looking at a picture of herself drinking a juice box):  That's Evvie, and she is having a juice box like me.

Our Trip So Far

We left on Saturday, August 14.  We started packing on August 13.

Someone has too many clothes...

Our first stop was Kansas.  Kansas isn't terribly exciting.

There are sunflowers, though.

We've been to a couple fun places...

Today we went to the zoo in Garden City.

This rhino was a little too close for comfort.  We could see the whites of his eyes.

Evelyn enjoyed a pretzel with cheese.

And this is what happens when you have too much pretzel and zoo.

Also, here's a picture of Harrison doing something weird with his hands.

Evelyn Quote of the Day:

Since it's been a couple of days, I'll give you two.

1.  Evelyn:  (relaying a message)  Second eat.  30 minutes.  Yestermorning.

               actual message - Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes.

2.  At the zoo today looking at the camels:

      Evelyn:  Those look like botor waffalo.  That's my song.  It goes la la la.  You 'member?

Ulysses, Kansas

We are now in Ulysses, Kansas, home of 5,000 people, 32 churches, an Alco that closes at 8, and some really small squirrels.  Tomorrow night, Tyler will be presenting at Country View Baptist Church.  We are staying with Pastor Sam Bynum and his wife Karen.  And they are possibly the nicest people alive. 

We had an uneventful 6.5 hour trip across the great state of Kansas.  Tyler said he entertained himself for 45 minutes by looking at a wind farm (for those of you who don't know, Kansas is pretty flat and pretty monotonous), Harrison slept, and Evelyn watched her "Old Mickey Mouse movie."  It is a dvd of really old Mickey Mouse cartoons, really old, like black and white.  She LOVES it.  She's weird.

Today we went to the park...twice.  It was 75 degrees outside at noon, we had to take advantage.  While we were there, I saw two (what I would later learn are called) ground squirrels.  Just to give you an idea of how bad my vision is with only one contact, I thought they were lizards.  Turns out they were squirrels.  Really small squirrels.

I am discovering with everyday that I have forgotten alot of things.  So far my list includes a bottle brush, a hair brush, and a hair dryer.  I tried to go to Alco tonight to remedy some of it, but it closes at 8.  This truly is a small town.

I am sure I will have more embarrassing stories about Evelyn tomorrow.  We haven't been to church since Sunday, after all.

Evelyn Quote of the Day:

Tyler:  You're a monkey.
Evelyn:  I'm not a monkey, I'm a herman.

The first 24 hours

We set sail on Saturday, August 14, at 2:30 pm (we were supposed to leave at noon) headed for Merriam, Kansas.  Trinity Baptist Church was to be our first stop on this whirlwind trip around the country.   It was really good to see Ed and Maria Thompson.  They took us to a bbq restaurant and ordered more meat than I was sure I had ever seen in my life.  It was good though.  Unfortunately, we didn't get back to our hotel until 10:30.  This might spell disaster for Evelyn.

I woke up on Sunday to discover that my right eye contact was not in the case.  Good way to begin the day!  I also discovered that it takes a little longer to get ready and leave with two kids, thus almost making us late for church.  We did arrive on time, though I couldn't read the clock with my impaired vision.  Evelyn began her morning at church climbing on the pews and generally disobeying.  Harrison however slept very peacefully in his carseat.  Tyler had to present, so I was left with two children to contain.  I contained Harrison quite well, but towards the end of service, Evelyn made a dash for the front.  Oh yes, my child tried to run up on stage at our first ever appointment, and almost succeeded.  This is going to be fun...


Evelyn Quote of the Day:

Tyler (while reading her Bible storybook to her):  Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death...
Evelyn:  I've been there.
Tyler:  What?
Evelyn:  I've been there.
Tyler:  You've been to the Valley of the Shadow of Death?
Evelyn:  Yes.

hiatus

The last few months I haven't been feeling very domestic, or very adventurous.

But, I think I'm back...in a lot of ways. Tyler told me that I was depressed. I told him it was a combination of being overwhelmed and under stimulated. I don't really think that needs explaining, most everyone can probably relate to the feeling of waking up every morning with a complete lack of excitement about the 35,000,000 things they have to do that day. (Sounds kind of like depression) So, as a coping mechanism, I felt sorry for myself. My husband takes me for granted, my daughter doesn't listen to anything I say, no one listens to anything I say, I'm fat, I hate being pregnant, all of my friends secretly hate me and only hang out with me so they can talk about me when I'm not there, etc.

"Why Sara, don't you know that these thoughts are from Satan?"

"Yes."

"And how do we deal with these sorts of things?"

"I know, I know"

...but I forgot, or at least chose to ignore. Because the last place you want to look when you are focused so contently on yourself is God and His Word. They don't really leave you space to take leisurely strolls through your palace of self-pity. Wow, Isaiah 53:5 is sure blocking my view of how bad I have it.

I couldn't tell you exactly what got me out of it. If I had to guess, I would say God's patience and love for me triumphed once again. He used a lot of things, though. My unthankful husband, my strongwilled child, and my back-stabbing friends all played a role. And of course, that precious, often-overlooked book, written for me.

So I am starting to adventure back into the world that God has given me, and this time I plan to tackle the 34,876, 389 things I have left to do with gusto! (And maybe post to my blog more than once every 4 months...if you're lucky!)

The Establishment

Psalm 90 has long been one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. I love that there is an urgency to it, but also a calmness and rest in the guaranteed outcome.

It's like a good Christian romance novel. Will they get together? Will he ever be man enough to say how he really feels? Will the secrets of their pasts tear them apart? In a country ravaged by war, how can two people with such different backgrounds find love? (I digress.) I love the angst, but I also love knowing that there will be a happy ending. I get caught up in the current turmoil, but if I step back, I can see and find comfort in the assured resolution.

Moses knew the same thing. He didn't need a fictional love story to compare it to, however. He realized that there is so much that weighs us down that we forget how short this life really is. And how great and infinite God is. Moses had a tough go of it. He experienced far more hardship and many more trials and difficult decisions than I ever have. Yet he realized, even in the middle of wandering around the desert, that there was a purpose and a joy in life beyond just living it.

There are about 17 amazing verses in that Psalm, but the one that has been most on my heart lately is verse 17.

And let the beauty of our Lord God be upon us: and establish Thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it.

The prayer of every person seeking the Lord. Or it should be. It should be my prayer everyday. Is it? Is what I do with my time worth establishing? I challenged the girls in the youth group (and myself) with this verse. I asked them to think of what they did today hour by hour and ask themselves these two questions:
What did I do today that the Lord would be interested in establishing?
And of the things I did do that the Lord would establish, am I interested in them?

Convicting, to say the least. In light of the 16 verses prior to this about our life being so short, this is extra convicting.

New prayer for me...

Establish all the works of my hands, Dear Saviour. Establish the work that I find menial and mundane. Establish the difficult work and the work that makes me lose sleep at night. Establish the work that makes my heart rejoice. Make my heart rejoice at it all, for You have given me this work, and You are my reward.