Go. Be. Do.

I'm not even sure what to title this entry yet, so I'll leave it blank and maybe something will come to me in a bit. The days have been flying by...up until today. Boy, has the day lasted a seemingly long time! Maybe it's just because I actually accomplished alot that it seems to have been so many hours. It has been a good day, very good, actually...just long. My bags are packed and my thoughts are already in Alaska...left half my heart there last year (as the saying goes). So thankful to be returning this year and so excited to see what lies ahead for the week. I was asked an interesting question tonight by a good friend who's trying to figure out the purpose behind mission trips...is really to help others or is it a personal journey? I'm sure there are as many answers to that questions as there are people to ask...for me, it was a personal journey. Didn't really intend for it to be...didn't go selfishly seeking it to be all about me, but in the end I learn...

Since it's after midnight now, I can say it's only one more day now until we leave for Anchorage. Found out some more details about our trip these past couple of days...some news is better than none. :) It only makes me all the more ready to be there and getting into the swing of things again. There are alot of people who are wishing that they were coming with us again...my thought is that we'll just have to make plans for next summer. :) Who knows...with God all things are possible, right?! The boys have been holding up well this week. Maybe they've been too busy to think about me leaving. Partially intentional on my part, partially not...it just worked out that way. I told them that Mama is heading to Alaska to be a missionary and tell people about Jesus. They want to come to Alaska with me someday...and I would love to take them and get them on the mission field at an early age. They'll love it. Been thinking alot about Alaska's state flower, the "Forget...

I am so ready for Saturday to get here...can't believe it's just 3 sleeps away. If I were sleeping now it'd only be two. :) Just found out tonight, talking to Traci, that we are going to be back at Mountain View Boys & Girls Club. Yay! We have kept in touch somewhat with them over this past year by sending them pictures, cards and notes of encouragement a couple of times. Although it will be "familiar" territory, it will be a new adventure and I am so looking forward to what God has in store for me...probably more like...in store to teach me. I knew before leaving last year that I was going back again someday...and, I am thankful to be getting the opportunity so soon!!! God is good...all the time.

The city of Atlanta used to intimidate me...coming from small town Indiana, the airport alone used to intimidate me. This is changing, however, for the good. The part about Atlanta that I still am not fond of is that you can find yourself in an okay part of town and in just one block that can change rapidly. I don't understand how this happens, but I'm told it's called "transitioning neighborhoods"...whatever you want to call it, I call it unnerving. Anyway, none of that matters for our trips to the Fernbank Museum and CNN Center. Fernbank has an IMAX theatre...and, truthfully, that's the only reason to spend the time to go there on most occasions. The first IMAX movie that I ever saw was about Lewis and Clark...now, that was awesome. Seen a few since and none are as impressive as that one. However, the movie we saw just last week, "Under the Sea" was really cool. Once again, I found the movie informative, and rather upbeat...unlike two previous ones...

These days of summer have been some of the best yet with the boys. We're having so much fun just being our silly selves...no other way to be, really. :) In addition to our Atlanta attractions visits these pictures show some of our other fun adventures...water fights, BMX track, waterslide, and camping in the backyard. Who knows what we'll do next... Alex tearing up the BMX track in Peachtree City... Timmy enjoying the waterslide sprays... Alex having a splashing good time on the waterslide... Water fight with Daddy...the boys soon turned on him and he was just as wet as they were by the end. :)

Having tired of doing the normal things around our area, I asked for "City Pass" tickets for the boys and myself. This gives you entrance into 6 Atlanta attractions for a fraction of the cost of admission to them all individually. (Just google "Atlanta City Pass" and you'll get all the info you could possibly want...maybe other big cities do it, too, who knows). Anyway, today the boys and I adventured out to th e GA Aquarium and the World of Coke...considered CNN as well, but that would have been overkill for all 3 of us. What's nice is that you get to go to both places (or all 3 if you choose) with only paying parking once. However, they may say you get into shorter lines, but don't believe them...you have to go to the will call line (GA) or the general ticket line (WOC) still to redeem the actual ticket for admission. It was an okay day for the lines today, thankfully. We've been to the aquarium before...this was our 4th visit. (Still like Tennesse...

Two weeks from today is the scheduled take-off day to Alaska. It has seemed so far away for so long, it's hard to believe it's finally down to two weeks. It's just after 10 pm right now...so in two weeks, Lord willing, we'll still be in the air getting ready to land in just a little while. So many things going through my mind...excitement and anticipation with a little anxiousness mixed in too. :) This trip is being prayed for, though, and has been for a long time now. This trip isn't for me or even for the people of Alaska...it's for God and His glory. As I think about that, it puts everything into perspective. He>I...and that's all that matters.

It was finally Yard Sale Day at our house. This doesn't mean much to many people, but to my Alex it meant alot! He loves yard selling...both hosting and visiting them. He has been wanting a yard sale for months now, but for one reason or another we could never get one in...until today. Alex had so much fun. My mother-in-law and I had this sale together at my house, so not only did we have a yard sale, his Nana was here all day long, too. This made for two happy little boys. Try as they might, they were not able to convince me to sell them their own toys back to them. :) They did not like having to part with them, but in order to purchase more the old ones had to go first. This concept was understood to a point, but both of them were able to convince a grandparent to purchase an item of their choosing to keep for them at their house. I am okay with this as long as it's out of our house. Gone is gone no matter where it has gone to in my book. :) Overall, we had a very successful ...

I asked myself this afternoon, "Did Betty Crocker ever have a day like this?" I picked more blackberries today and thought to myself that a blackberry cake would be a nice change. So, I made a few phone calls, browsed a few cookbooks, and scanned the internet looking for a recipe that looked good. Looking back now, I wish I would have just frozen these berries for another day like I had with the second batch I picked. (A note to add here..."Betty Crocker" is just a name chosen, not an actual lady. Sad, but true.) It's actually rather comical, my afternoon baking session...I wish I had an excuse of interruptions or not feeling well or anything, but I don't. I picked two recipes to try - one from a cookbook and one from the internet. I had four heaping cups of berries, so I had enough for both in case I liked one better than the other. Free berries, so why not try something new, right? Everything was going well with the internet "Blackberry Coffee Cake...

Sometimes it's best just to have quiet days at home. I have had a couple of those yesterday and today...not much happening other than a little cleaning and alot of playing going on. I guess alot is on my mind so it really doesn't seem so quiet, but when one asks what we did during the day I realize that it really wasn't much after all. Yesterday I went into the boys room to organize the toys again. I don't understand little boys and their need to scatter things from here to there and back again. (Maybe it's not just little boys, but more of a personality trait found in some and not in others...I wouldn't know about little girls). I lost myself in my thoughts as I sorted, boxed up, and marked toys for the yard sale coming up Friday. It's so funny how the boys don't touch a toy for months, but as soon as I even think about selling it at the yard sale it becomes a favorite again. That lasts for a moment and then I pick it up from the floor again and p...

Over the weekend of July 4th, we spent the weekend in the North GA mountains...specifically in Helen, GA to go tubing down the Chattahoochee River. Scott first took me to the mountains right after I moved to GA in 2001...the drive up there is about 2 hours from where we live, but the closer we get to the mountains, the more it reminds me of my IN home with all the farms, gardens, and rolling hills. I love to visit the area for a home away from home experience. We've been tubing almost every year since we met. One year it was too dry to even attempt to go. We've taken both the boys since they were little tykes...Alex was only around 8 months old when he went tubing for the first time. He fell asleep on my shoulder about halfway down the river and was the talk of the town as we floated through Helen. That next summer was the year we missed tubing...so Tim was just over a year when he went down for the first time. Ever since then we've been taking an annual trip to Helen for t...

Alex just cracks me up sometimes...today we're going through some stuff for our up and coming yard sale and he comes across something of his in the "sale pile". Without hesitation, while holding his re-found treasure, he quips, "This is a crime scene here." Who else but my firstborn son would consider it a crime scene when he found out that I put something of his in the yard sale items??? It was a nice interruption in an otherwise ugh! kind of day for me. I haven't been feeling well since Sunday...my ears have been bothering me again due to my sinuses. This is usually a winter thing for me so it took me by surprise to be feeling so off in the middle of the summer. I ended up going to the doctor today (one of my least favorite things to do), but I can't be having ear problems with a flight to Alaska coming up in a few weeks. I'm now on an antibiotic and prescription decongestant...but whatever it takes at this point to get my ears ready for flig...

The coutndown has begun...24 "sleeps"and I'll be on a plane to Anchorage, AK. I am in shock that the year has gone by so fast. Part of me is wondering what I was thinking, wanting to return...it will be so different than last year. Then again, different isn't a bad thing, just different. In many ways, my life was changed in Alaska. God got my attention and it's a lesson I won't soon forget. He wants to be number one in my life...second place just won't do. This past year has meant alot to me as I have learned to lean on my Rock through some tough times. The only problem with having an extraordinary encounter with God is returning to the ordinary life that awaits you off the mountain top. God is Lord of both, however...and gives grace sufficient to endure. A lot of memories came from my first trip to the great state of moose, bear, and glaciers. My return to Alaska will not be like the first...but then again, I am a different person this second time around ...