Sacred Sunday

Sundays have a pretty special place in my heart. There's something sort of sacred about them. Sunday mornings at church are always so powerful, refreshing, challenging, and inspiring. When it's all over, there's something still sacred in just coming home, sitting on the couch, reading the paper, watching a ball game, or taking a nap. Relaxing. It's peaceful and quiet and there's nothing else going on. Generally Sunday evenings are spent with Aaron's family, the whole lot of us. Those evenings feel sort of sacred too -- filled with lots of noise and laughter... and far too much food. Can't be beat.

Treats that made today extra special?

• After last night's wedding (and with the kids spending the night at Ammie and Poppy's), I slept until 10:00 this morning. (I never do that!)
• After church, Jackson came over to play. It was so much fun! I've really missed that kid. He's so fun!
• Abby got to spend the afternoon with Ammie. They went to see a play at the twins' school and then went to Starbucks and to see Ammie's gallery. Abby was going 90 miles an hour when she got home. :)
• Poppy made hamburgers. Back in the day when we were dating and first married, burgers were the weekly meal at the Powers' house. We haven't had burgers over there in ages, but it brought back good memories from back in the days when we all fit around the small table in the kitchen.

Fortunately/Unfortunately

When I was in 5th grade, my teacher, Mrs. Richardson, had us write a book entitled Fortunately/Unfortunately. I don't necessarily remember what I wrote about then, but I've come up with a newer version -- a true life tale of my day yesterday.

Fortunately, I've been busy lately with work.
Unfortunately, I've been busy lately with work -- which apparently makes me a little distracted and all over the place.
Fortunately, I had a wedding Thursday night.
Unfortunately, along the way I realized the black dress shoes I needed to wear were not in the car like I thought. And then when I dropped the kids off, Aaron mentioned he could see my stripey bra through my two layer shirt. (Is it okay to talk about my bra on my family blog?!)
Fortunately, I was able to make a quick stop at Cato, where I found perfect shoes and a perfect bra both on clearance for cheap. In and out in five minutes.
Unfortunately, when I arrived, I was horrified to discover that in my rush to get out the door while helping a frustrated and tired Abby with homework, I somehow left an entire case (one of three) containing a crucial piece of equipment at home. (I am a total idiot. I can admit that.)
Fortunately, my wonderful photographer mother-in-law lived close and brought me hers to borrow.
Unfortunately, I was 35 minutes late because of my mistake.
Fortunately (for me. Unfortunately for her), the bride was 30 minutes later than I was.
Unfortunately, my eyes were itching like crazy.
Fortunately, they waited to get really bad until the wedding was over.
Unfortunately, my husband was asleep when I got home last night. (I always love getting to hang out with him when I get home.)
Fortunately, I have convinced him to shoot tomorrow's wedding with me. #1 Because he's actually really good. #2, I really like having him around. And #3, he will help me make sure my head stays on straight! (No small task!)

Fortunately, two people committed their lives to each other forever yesterday. And it was beautiful. And they chose me to document it... and I get to do it again tomorrow for another amazing couple. And at the end of the day, there's nothing unfortunate that can really overshadow that.

Hay Maze

Carson's school has a hay maze set up this month, and this morning his class got to go! It was great and very fall-like on a wonderfully cool day (or morning at least) like today. Carson had a great time, as you can see!

BFF's

This is Abby and her new best friend, Aria. Since day one of first grade, every time I see them at school, they are together -- singing, giggling, telling secrets, or talking about Justin Bieber. I took this picture when I went to have lunch with them on Friday. They talked 90 miles a minute and their whole group of girls got together to sing Hey Soul Sister to me. It was a lot of fun, and I'm so thankful that Abby's made good friends and has had such a great start to the school year!

I Haven't Disappeared

I promise I'm still around, just really busy. I am so behind on blogging... but I'll catch up. (I think I said that before, and yet, I can still think of one or two trips from over the summer that I still haven't blogged yet.) Here's a super quick re-cap of (the parts I can immediately recall of) the last two weeks or so, along with a random sampling of iPhone pics.

-Had fun with the kids. They're so super! I'm a lucky mom.

-Discovered a new burger place out between here and Medina Lake. It was really yummy. And a little bit in the middle of nowhere. We love places like that.

-Great times with our small group/core team. Had an outreach last week in our neighborhood that went pretty well!

-Pushed back the launch of the Northwest Campus to January/February (*sigh of relief* There's a lot to do). Also may have found our location! PLEASE KEEP THIS MINISTRY IN YOUR PRAYERS!

-Carson took a picture of Aaron and I together -- since we have maybe two. Ever.

-He also took the most embarassing, awful picture of me immediately after. It's so awful, it's funny. (And it looks like I'm eating the wall or something!) So I thought I'd share. Because if you can't laugh at yourself, well...

-Been spending a lot of time with the Childrens' Ministry on Sunday, learning about what all goes into the childrens' program. Gotta say I've been completely blown away at how great it is! It was already good and Robbie and Annie are taking it to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL!

-Got to see Jerah and Andre for a little bit last week. (or was that the week before?) They are so very adorable. Got to see Val and Dustin and my Mom and Dad for a while too. Always good times.

-My mom came and picked the kids up one day so they could have a weekend with Mattie & Grandaddy. The kids had an amazing time, of course!

-Got to go on a date with my husband. It was amazing.

-The weather is finally cooling off.

-Sunsets are fabulous.

-MLB Baseball playoffs started today. And the NFL is in full force. Add that to my busy wedding/portrait schedule, I don't think I'll be seeing my husband much in October.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

A couple years ago, we got one of the best Christmas presents ever from Jason and Natalie -- an ice cream maker. We've had a lot of fun with it and recently found probably our favorite ice cream yet. If you know Aaron at all, it will come as no surprise...

Peanut Butter Ice Cream. Hello.

I love it's creaminess, tastiness, and how fabulously easy it is to make.

The cast of characters:

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

What to do?

1. Cream together sugar and peanut butter
2. Mix in milk until sugar is dissolved
3. Mix in cream and vanilla
4. Pour in ice cream maker and flip the on switch.
5. Go write a blog post and check your Facebook (or whatever you want to do) and come back 20 minutes later to find the creamiest, tastiest homemade ice cream ever.
6. Consume. If you feel like splurging a little, serve with some nice warm brownies!

Steaks and Mix Tapes

Last night I got to go on a date. Not like we-had-to-get-a-sitter-so-we-can-go-to-a-meeting-or-event kind of date. Like, our-kids-are-out-of-town-and-we-have-nowhere-to-be-so-let's-just-enjoy-each-other kind of date. Haven't been on one of those in quite some time. And we had such a great time. Our dates, even in the beginning, were never planned or expensive. Last night, we spent the first hour or so shopping, then headed to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner. We were almost to the door, when I saw Aaron look subtly, but longingly out of the corner of his eye at the Longhorn Steakhouse across the highway. I laughed, took his arm, and told him I wanted steak for dinner. We were able to have nice, long talks over dinner (no, really, we were there forever because the service was slooow) and enjoy each others company. When we left, there were no kids to pick up and get to bed, so we hopped back in the truck, found the one of the playlists I'd recently made for Aaron (mix tapes for his iPhone!), cranked up the music and just drove. Singing, laughing, and enjoying the night. It was great.

I am so thankful for Aaron -- for what a great husband, friend, and dad that he is -- and I'm so glad we get to live life together. :)

On a side note, we also came to the conclusion that (though I was pretty sure I belived this all along) Garth Brooks' rendetion of 'Shameless' is perhaps the best love song ever. It may be twangy. It may be country. But it's the bomb.