Summer Retreat 2015

Jul 21, 2015 /

Well, I wasn’t able to update the blog like I’d hoped last week, so I am here today with a big recap (mostly photos) of our week at Westminster Woods.

We had approximately 120 students out at camp this week for Mike’s middle school youth group’s summer retreat.That’s a mouthful, but it was a great time. Thank goodness for our 25+ high school leaders who lead our small groups and stay in the cabins with the middle schoolers on retreats.

My brother in law was one of the Student Ministry interns this summer so he had the opportunity to speak on the summer retreat. I loved watching him come to life in front of the students. He definitely has a gift in speaking and I can’t wait to see where the Lord takes that.

Mike also did a lot of the speaking – and leading – and explaining. The top photo is during one of his talks. The bottom photo is him announcing who won the golden duster (cleanest cabin) for the day. It’s so fun to see him work at camps, he’s completely in his element.

By midweek Alfie gets pretty exhausted so we have dedicated nap time for him (and me). He gets so snuggly when he’s tired – I love it.

Just livin’ the Lou life with a midweek family nap | We take FOB very seriously

Walking in peace and quiet | Between the trees

Alfie doesn’t have any fun at camp | No fun at all

Just your typical hose down post game day

At this point he was exhausted, dehydrated, and allowing me to hold him like a baby | What a guy

Socks and sandals | together 4eva

LAST DAY! | We’re not tired…

Within an hour of being home and getting some chipotle in their bellies, I found the men of our house passed out on the couch. I think it’s hilarious that the tallest one is on the smallest couch and the short one is on the biggest couch | Seems logical to me.

While they slept, I unpacked, went grocery shopping, and gave the pup a bath. He doesn’t like bath time but since he was so tired he was very compliant. And that was our week! Weeks out at camp always go by so quickly but we’ll be back out at the Woods before we know it. Now we’re switching gears and prepping for the Wilderness at Northern Pines. Thankfully we have a few days of turn around!Happy Day!

Our TJ Maxx Finds

Jul 13, 2015 /

On our anniversary last week we went SHOPPING!

I am not typically an “I love shopping so much” type of girl. I prefer online shopping, the kind where I don’t actually have to leave the house. But we had a good time last Tuesday and we came home with some fun stuff!

We walked around the whole store, because you can’t just go to one section at TJ Maxx. I always like looking at their furniture. It’s usually a fair price and it’s frequently changing. We saw a bench similar to this one and I told Mike that I’d love one like it for in front of our bed. I think his response was, “We already have a bench in front of our bed……”

That’s completely fair. But it was a piano bench with no storage and no padding. It didn’t scream relaxing bedroom escape.

On our second loop around the store, yes we walked the store twice, I spotted this guy. A darker shade of gray with a flat top? It’s perfect!

We proceeded to sit on it for 10+ minutes trying to justify the $120.00 price tag. I would talk Mike into it and then I would talk him right back out of it…. But we ended up calling it an(other) anniversary gift and it came home with us!

We also bought this new laundry basket. I love it. It holds plenty and it has handles!

And slowly but surely our master bedroom is coming together. I’ve learned that things take a while to come together for us. We haven’t made decorating a priority because wow it’s expensive to “finish” a home and we have other goals that we’d like to reach first. Little updates like this keep me patient and remind me that it’s ok to not have everything put together and perfect. We’ll get there eventually, we just spend an extra long amount of time in the planning process.

My parents are handing down a dresser to us that I want to paint or stain and I want to order matching bedside tables to go with the new dresser… Also some paint on the walls would be good and maybe some artwork/decor to follow. But again, it’s not our priority. It’ll come together when it comes together!

Today we are headed to camp for the week. Mike’s job of working with middle schoolers has some huge perks, one of them being camp 4 lyfe. I always dreamed that I could forever be a camp counselor and then I married a youth pastor. 3 weeks out of the summer I get my camp counselor on and it’s a blast.

So that’s where we’ll be! I plan on updating the blog with camp updates (similar to last year HERE and HERE).

Happy Day!

Our Third Anniversary Day

Jul 10, 2015 /

If you missed it, Tuesday was our 3rd wedding anniversary!

Mike and I took our afternoons off (hoping to golf but that got rained out) and went shopping! As we prep for camp we always tend to do a little more shopping. Every year we get super excited for new “camp” clothes or shoes or bags.

We each got some new socks, Mike got some new shorts and a hat, and…

He surprised me the night before our anniversary with a new bag and new chacos! Then on our actual anniversary he bought me some decor for our house that I am obsessed with (I’ll share later).

It was so much fun to spend the day out and about with him.

After shopping and then a stop at my parents house to see the little sister we went to dinner at Bricktown Brewery and F E A S T E D. Seriously. Wow. We ordered 2 appetizers and 2 entrees. So. Much. Food.

The cheese curds were a crowd favorite, but the red pepper sweet potato fries never disappoint. We’ll probably have to order both whenever we go back because they are both so good.

We came home and got some work done for the camps I mentioned earlier. We also cut into the top tier of our wedding cake (2 years too late?) and it was delicious! We have since decided that it was not too late but perfectly on time. S’more cake also never disappoints.

Alf and I were “working” hard.

Right before bed we lit our engagement candle and Mike reaffirmed his three promises. This is a yearly tradition and another reason why I really love this man.

And that was our 3rd anniversary! I wish everyday could be anniversary day.

But today is hopefully just a happy day because FRIDAY!

Yearly Archives: 2015

Summer Retreat 2015

Our TJ Maxx Finds

Our Third Anniversary Day