She's Coming! She's Coming!

This is going to be a quick post, but I just had to let people know how EXCITED I am that my sister will be moving to Louisville, KY this summer! Her fiance Brent (Dan's only brother) has decided to take an internship there, so once they wed on June 7, they will be headed South (after the honeymoon of course)! That's only a little over 2 hours from here! If you can't tell from all of the exclamation points, I'm rather excited by this news :-) I know it's not next door, but compared to the distance between Nashville & NW Iowa, I feel like they might as well be moving in with us. There's just something about a sister that really is unlike anything else, and I am thrilled that mine is going to be close for awhile!

Where the Sun Always Shines

We had an absolutely delightful time out in California this weekend! We were able to fly out Thursday afternoon and spend the evening with Grandma Fedorka, Uncle Mitch & Aunt Jeanne, as well as Aunt Dolly & Uncle Joe. Friday morning Uncle Mitch took us and Grandma up the mountain to Big Bear where Dan grew up. It was so cool to get to see some of the places I've always heard Dan talk about! Now I understand why he wanted to be a forest ranger in Montana :-) It was my first time in the mountains of California, and I must admit, they were a lot more "mountainous" that I realized!

That afternoon Grandma was set on buying Dan a new suit, so we headed into Redlands and found one. I'm not sure who was more excited - Dan to wear his spiffy new suit, or Grandma to see her grandson looking so handsome! I even got a few new things out of the shopping trip, too. Then we headed back to Yucaipa and out to dinner with the whole gang and even a cousin or two where they treated us to a yummy steak dinner. Then Grandma tried to feed us some of her pie when we got home - we felt like two spoiled kids by the end of that day!

Karee (Mom) & Katee drove down late Friday night so they could drive us up to San Luis Obispo (SLO) on Saturday. We enjoyed our drive back, stopping at an In-&-Out and a couple of beautiful beaches along the way. That night we roamed around SLO a bit, went and had some fabulous Mexican food, and then enjoyed the pier down at Morro Bay. Sunday we got to spend nearly the whole day at the beach, and I couldn't have been happier! Karee & I went out to Avila that morning and just visited while we soaked up some wonderful sun, then later the whole gang headed out to Dan's favorite beach, Montana de Oro. It was such a blessing to just spend time together, and as short as it was, we were really able to pack a lot in to these few days. After dome delicious tri-tip & Dennis's fabulous salsa, we packed our bags and headed back to Nashville on the last red-eye out of SLO (and I now understand the meaning of the term "red-eye" a whole lot better!), and by 10 am we were both at work. What a whirl-wind! But a wonderful & refreshing whirl-wind to say the least.

Rather than labeling all of these, I thought I'd just throw up a smattering of pictures for you all. Unfortunately, all of the pics we took with Grandma were on Uncle Mitch's camera, but there are plenty others. Enjoy!

In Cali!

Dan & I have made a quick trip out to Cali for the weekend and are enjoying it immensely! We flew into Ontario Thursday evening, were up in the mountains yesterday, and tonight we're at the beach in SLO. I'll give a full report when we get back - we've got to make the most of our time while we're here. We've got a full day to enjoy tomorrow, and will be headed back to Nashville tomorrow night (arriving back Monday morning - ugh). I'll "talk" to you all then :-)

Only in Nashville

We just got back from a benefit concert at our church for the victims of the tornadoes that went through middle Tennessee a few weeks ago. It was sort of a "writers in the round" type feel with Bebo Norman, Christy Nockels (formerly of Watermark), Brandon Heath, & Jason Ingram, and it was wonderful. They did a few songs we knew and lots of new stuff that was just incredible. Music has always been something that moves me, but I am just blown away when I get the opportunity to meet and hear the writers of such powerful songs. It was especially cool tonight to watch these artists use their God-given talents in such a generous way. It was a free concert with a love offering that will go directly to tornado relief efforts, but they also went one step further and had a sign-up sheet for anyone who wants to join them in a couple weeks to go work in some of these areas. Our names are on the list, so we're excited to see how God will use this!

At the end of the night there was a special "surprise" appearance by none other than Michael W. Smith - affectionately known as "Smitty" around here (this is where my title comes from, because really that sort of thing only happens here in Nashville - I love it!). And I've got to admit, there really is no one like him. The other artists left the stage, and after the offering plates were passed Smitty walks onto the stage, sits down as his piano and before long the whole room has errupted in worship. We sang several songs, including one of my favorites "How Great is Our God" - one that we had at our wedding. And while we were singing this song I was simply struck by the overwhelming faithfulness of our God. Dan & I sang that together at the wedding alter nearly two years ago, surrounded by our friends and family, and rather unsure of what the future held. And there tonight we sang it again, surrounded by new friends, in a new church we have grown to love, and at a completely different place in our lives. God knew on March 18, 2006 that he wanted Dan & I to be here in Nashville in March of 2008, leading a community group, working through PA school, planning events for GMA, and continuing to take steps towards a life of ministry as He directs us. And tonight as we sang that same song, I held that same hand and praised the very same God, knowing that He will be just as faithful to us the next two years, and the next two years after that, and forever as He has been to us in these first two years of our marriage.

Oh, and Bebo was there tonight, and we had a Bebo song at our wedding too. So that was kinda cool.

A Splendid Book

I just finished reading this book last week and had to tell you all about it. It's absolutely fantastic! It's a novel that unfolds over nearly 4 decades in Afghanistan and follows the lives of 2 women whose stories become inextricable. I learned a great deal about the political climate of Afghanistan from the 1970s to the Soviet take-over in the 80's, to the terrible civil war in the 90's, the horrific reign of the Taliban at the turn of the century, and finally the U.S. "invasion" that has finally lead to a bit of peace, fragile though it may be. The (fictional) story of these women is both heart-breaking and inspiring -- and I know that sounds cliche, but I really mean it! If you haven't already, please get your hands on a copy of this book. You won't be sorry.

Now I MUST find a copy of the Kite Runner (another book by Hosseini - probably more well-known) -- I can't hardly stand to think that it might be as good as this one :-)

Watch this...

A friend at work introduced me to this beautiful song last week and I can't get it out of my head. It is certainly thought-provoking. Let me know what you think! (And if this even works...my first attempt at posting a video!) Oh, it's called "Albertine" - by Brooke Fraser.

I found some!

Here are a couple of pictures from our first date together on Valentine's Day 2004...so apparently I was mistaken when I mentioned there were no digital cameras around at this point. I found these in an obsure file on our computer after my last post. I think Aunt Linda was kind enough to lend us a digital camera that night - thanks AL! Oh, and sorry for the glare - I wasn't expecting to have a date to the dance and didn't spend much time (or any really) in the tanning beds :-)