Week 14

April 5: With the 80 degree weather, the bear finally decided to remove the scarf and hat and go au natural.
April 6: Tanya & I had dinner together and a long awaited time to catch up.

April 7: The red bud trees are in bloom.

All the spring color reminds me of a line in Canticle of the Plains by Rich Mullins. "Bursting from bud into beauty in a way I can't describe. In a way that's so changing my life..." My heart bursts with joy and wonder at the majesty of our Creator.

April 8: This is the cute little church that's just down the block from my house. It made a picturesque view when rounding the corner in the afternoon sunshine.

April 9: Thrift Store Prom. This is the 2nd year we've done this for our spring dance and it was a blast. Everyone comes decked out in the worst prom stuff they can find. I wore on of Hannah's high school prom dresses that I dug out of the closet at Mom & Dad's. The huge puffy sleeves just called for a tiara and long black gloves. Janel's dress had a fabulous huge white butt-bow.

My planning co-horts - Lindsay and Rachel.

The boys rocked it too.

April 10: Doug and Angela have decided to leave us for England. Their going-away party was today. I was asked to make the cake. Carrot cake is Doug's favorite and I borrowed Tanya's decorating kit. The close up picture of the cake won't cooperate but you'll at least see the details. I edged it with "goodbye" in different languages.

April 11: It was a full day of a lot of spring clean up yard work. Diesel enjoyed a morning drive. Yes, Hannah, I took the picture while driving but he's sooo cute with his head stuck out the window that I had to share.

My neighbor's creeping phylox is in full bloom under the oak tree.

My tulips!

My neighbor's lilac bush hangs over the fence so I get to enjoy it too.

My hostas are starting to come up.

This is why...

...I shouldn't wait a week & a half to put up the weekly post. I forget what I did and what I was thinking. And too, maybe I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the to-do list that my brain doesn't remember that far back.

Anyway, while I'm sure you enjoyed the picture of Diesel panting, I really meant to post the below picture for March 29. I attended a Messianic Passover Seder. My friends Lisa & Phil attend one of the Messianic Jewish churches here in town which put on a wonderful Passover seder for anyone who wanted to attend. (Messianic means they are Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah.) The seder is so full of significance of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Week 13

March 29 - We took our longest daily walk yet. 1.25 miles. It was a bit much for him. He assumed this position for awhile after we got home.
March 30- A few of my daffodils have bloomed and I was surprised by this single tulip. It had a star-like shape, amazing yellow center, and pink strips on the outside.

March 31 - Two week old Wilson made his much anticipated first visit to our women's biblestudy.

April 1 - I LOVE spring. I love walking my dog in my neighborhood in the spring. Everything has begun blooming this week. There is a plethora of spring color. Bradford pear trees...

Forsythia...

My crab apple bush...

A bush in my yard that I'm not sure what it is...

magnolia trees...

April 2 - Good Friday. Jennifer and Bethany gave me an Easter lily at last Sunday's lunch. It has been great to watch it bloom this week and reflect on what resurrection week is really about.

April 3 - I spent Easter weekend with the family. Got a lot of play time with JT. Today also was my parents' 39th anniversary and we got to take them out for dinner. April 4 - Easter Sunday. Mom's delicious meal after church: ham, asparagus, scalloped potatoes, and brioche rolls.

Week 12

March 22: I rarely get pedicures, but when I do, I go for broke.

MArch 23: One of my daffodils has a bud.

March 24: The weather took a nose dive - again. I decided a cold & blustery day was the perfect time to introduce Diesel to Sedgwick County Park. Few people and few other pets. He behaved much better than I anticipated. We may make this a weekly outing.

March 25: One of the clumps of daffodils in the neighborhood. I am getting to know my 'hood much better now that I'm taking daily walks with the dog.

March 26: Please excuse the rotated picture. Blogger is not being friendly today and I've tried several times to correct it without avail. I give up. But I was excited to see leaves on my dwarf golden barberry shurbs.

March 27: Rachel, Lindsay & I spent the afternoon culling thrift stores for horrible prom dresses for Thrift Store Prom. Rachel is modeling one lovely find.

March 28: Had 4 friends over for a Sunday dinner. It was a great time. Orange Roughy with lemon & olives, brown rice pilaf, wilted greens (kale), and a crostata with blackberry jam for dessert.

Week 11

March 15: Every Monday when I drive to the Ronald McDonald House to volunteer, I am blown away by the neighborhood of Victorian houses that I drive through. I never knew there were Victorian homes in Wichita. Most of them are well maintained. This 3-story brick stunner always catches my eye.
March 16: Chayote Squash. Yum. We were introduced to this Central/South American squash on a mission trip to Costa Rica and happily, I can find it at my local grocery store.

I periodically buy a few and make chayote squash hash with ground turkey, onion, coriander, salt & pepper.

March 17: Spring is coming. The daffodils are growing.

March 18: I was so overwhelmed by the massive amount of front yard leaves last fall that I decided to not mess with the leaves in the backyard. Figured I'd just deal with them in the spring. Big mistake. I learned my lesson. Raking leaves that have sat for months and been snowed & iced on flat out sucks. But it was a beautiful 60 degree day.

March 19: My neighbor has some beautiful crocuses that have bloomed just in time for...

March 20: Snow on the first day of spring. We got about 2 inches in Wichita. It's been a seriously weird winter weather-wise. I'd complain about the snow, 30 degree temp & 30 mph winds, but I know Teena will tell me they haven't seen the ground in Dawson Creek since October.

March 21: A flock of Canadian geese were roaming a nearby park this morning. As you can see, most of the snow has already melted.

Week 10

March 8: I realize this is a little gross, which is why you aren't getting a close up. It rained alot today. When I opened the back door to let the dog out, I was greeted with the sight of earthworms covering the patio. Yuck.
March 9: This is the guilt trip I am now subjected to on a daily basis. He follows me around with the kitty in his mouth. If I stop for a second, kitty is dropped at my feet and I'm greeted with an expectant look of "Throw it! Let's play!" And if I don't oblige, he flops down on the floor at my feet and lets out a huge sigh and p0uts.

March 10: Now that it's a bit warmer, and it's rainy, I get to break out the happy coat. I know a green & white flowered trench coat is subtle, but I like to blend in.

March 11: I started working on my talk for Pathways on Sunday. I realized most of my reference books were gifts for which I am very grateful.

March 12: I finally burned one of the candles Elisabeth sent for my birthday. It is supposed to "bloom" and become flower like, but doesn't always work. This one obviously didn't but it still smelled nice.

March 13: Attended a Wichita Wild game with some friends. It's indoor football and is very fast paced. The Wild lost steam in the 2nd half but it was a fun game.

Do you see the pvc pipe duct taped to the down marker pole? During the 1st quarter, a player ran into the marker and snaped the pole in half right in front of us. It was amusing watching them figure out how to fix it. The field extends to the wall. Fans are tasked with holding the markers upright since the sideline workers have to get out of the way for the plays.

March 14: I spoke at Pathways - did a word study on "hope".

Week 9

March 1: "Big Mean Kitty" was a gift from Lindsay to Diesel. He loves it. We have spent a lot of time playing fetch in the house with it this week. She brought it with her to our first El Salvador mission team meeting tonight. It's a great team of 17 and it will be an awesome trip.
March 2: I've been craving Asian food lately. I made "Asian dumpling soup with edamame and shiitake" tonight. Only I forgot to buy edamame and I couldn't find watercress so I substituted spinach. It was still yummy.

March 3: We're going to have to get Diesel into better shape. We took a little longer walk today (about 20 minutes) and the last 2 blocks he kept looking back at me with his tongue hanging out like "are we done yet?!" The good news is he's doing so much better on the leash. I never realized how many dogs there are in my neighborhood until I started walking him and getting barked at from every angle.

March 4: You may have to blow up the picture to see all the smudges but this is from inside the backseat of the car looking out. Diesel loves riding in the car. I took him along on errands tonight.

March 5: I don't know if he gets excited when he realizes I'm home for the day or if this is from the mailman dropping off the mail, but every day the front door rug is a crumpled pile.

March 6: Matt's birthday party was tonight. Over an hour of about 30 of us sharing funny stories about him. He'd like you to think he's a jerk but just listen in and it's pretty easy to see why we all count ourselves lucky to be his friend. I made a dessert to share at the party: tarte tatin (apple tart).

And because the tarte only took half a recipe of Danish pastry dough, I also made almond danish - all Nigella's recipes of course.

March 7: I couldn't believe the size of the strawberries when I went grocery shopping today. I am getting excited about the fruit & veggies that are coming into season.