Walking In A Winter WONDERland!

The Bench~our normal turn-around spot.

I got to go for a walk today even thought it snowed.  They do such a good job keeping the path clear.  Yay!  I really enjoy my time out of the office to get my blood flowing and to re-energize.  Thank you Lord for my ability to walk!

~AWANA Cancelled Tonight~

AWANA got cancelled tonight due to weather.  So, we stayed in and Heath made some amazing chili!  He made a sweet batch for me and then a spicy batch for him.  Both were YUMMY! ~

Sunny Days ~ Chasin' the Clouds Away

This evening I got to meet with Dallas, my counselor.  I met with her alone tonight because I wanted to discuss with her my struggles.  We had an excellent session as we worked through some scenarios together.  I told her that in the past several years I have had alot of "big" stuff happen, but at this point in my life, those are no longer excuses.  I explained to her the feeling was not situational but all consuming.

Lately, I explained, I have been overcome by lack of focus, the need to push harder and harder, never feeling satisfied, striving for perfectionism, yet being left unfulfilled and empty.  I acknowledge my blessings daily and know that I am loved not only by my family, my husband, my animals, but MY all loving Father in Heaven.  This is the greatest truth of all.  Knowing this, yet still feeling inadequate and never being able to accomplish enough and not being at peace with myself is tough.  We talked through it and she gently guided me to some reading about anxiety.  After reading the literature, I feel like it was describing me to a tee.  At this diagnoses, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace just knowing, after all these years of suffering, how it is identified.

God's Walk

I so enjoy my walks along the path at the Y that overlook the Monument and the beautiful birds resting in peace.  Reminds me of that verse in Matthew.

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?"

~Matthew 6:26~

Tractor Museum

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to go up into the mines.  We could hardly see anything since it was snowing and foggy.  We drove up the winding road and checked-in at the station to continue up to the lookout.  Once we got up there, (you can see from the looks of that fence) we didn't have a clear view down into mine.  I have been up there before on a clear day where you watch the work the people are doing.  It is amazing how big that equipment is.  I look forward to going up again on a clear day so Heath can see it also.  I think he would really enjoy seeing that large equipment as a former large equipment operator.

Dad volunteers alot at the museum, so we got a behind-the-scenes, private tour.  The place looks really good.  They have tons of old implements in the basement and alot of old equipment up in the the shop.  Even while in the process of renovating and cleaning it up, it really looks nice!  You can see the hard work and dedication that is behind it.

Also, in the museum, they have an old-timer kitchen set up off to the side of the shop.  There is an old 'ice-box' and wood fire stove, decorated all cute and country.  Just my style!~

An old BEAUTIFUL Ford truck that has been restored!

I don't know if you can tell from the photo below, but they have even turned a part of this museum into a conference center.  This is the home of several local events.  One that comes to the top of my mind was one the museum hosted for artists.  What a cool place!  I am so glad Dad has this project and the nice people he has met while serving.  He is a wonderful man!

Trip to Colorado

Saturday morning we both woke up kind of sore after our night out at the gym.  What great fellowship, thank you Frank!

We got all packed up last night for our trip to the mountains.  We packed for the dogs, for ourselves, and then we packed the car.  We got up plenty early so we would have most of the day on Saturday and on Sunday to hang out with Dad once we arrived.

Heath did a pre-trip walk around and even added a little air to the tires before we left 'dark and early' as the sun hadn't even gotten up yet.  We no more than got four miles down the country road before we ended up with a flat tire.  Wow, GOD!  I had just finished praying to God to watch over us on  our trip to see Daddy when this happened.  We both looked at each other and decided that God's plan is perfect and that He didn't want us to go any further in our trip at this point in the day.

As you can see from the pictures that I snapped, we were changin' the tire.  I have an awesome flood light you can plug into the car that my parents gave me in high school.  It worked great for me to hold so Heath could see to do his work.  In January, we had just replaced two tires on my vehicle and this was not one of them.  We couldn't see any obvious damage, so we are guessing it is a sidewall blowout.

After fixing the tire, bless Heath, we turned around and headed back home to switch vehicles.  Heath is such a patient man, never getting upset, riled up, or complaining.  He just asked me to go inside the house to check and make sure we had everything shut off--stove, lights, fireplace, etc.  We felt like this was a second chance from God.  Turns out that we hadn't left anything on.  By the time I was finished checking the house, Heath had everything switched over into our pickup...dogs, us, winter emergency clothes....off we went again.

The rest of our trip was very nice.  We stopped at Qdoba for lunch in Cheyenne and stopped in Longmont for Heath's blood draw for his next Endocrinologist appointment.  We had a safe trip and made it to Dad's with plenty of daylight left.  We went for a drive to get acquainted with Dad's small town(s).  There are two towns close together that he enjoys and does volunteer work.

This was the first time that Heath and I had been together to see Dad in Colorado.  We were up there once before but Dad came up to our house to watch our animals, so he wasn't there to show us around.

We went for a wonderful supper at an Italian restaurant that he had been wanting to take us to.  It was fun to get dressed up and 'go out on the town.'  :)  Thank you Papa!

Y.M.C.A. Family Night

I had the pleasure of planning a Y.M.C.A. Family Night for the guys at work and their families.  Frank provided a meal and the evening for us.  Heath joined me and we had a wonderful evening with Sam and Louie's Pizza, basketball, swimming, and climbing the rock wall.

Nature

Awesome Walk Today!