Memories of Home

What is it about home that makes us feel so warm and gooey inside? 

Here are a few memories and thoughts that come to mind when I think of my home..

• Sunday naps on the family room couch
• Curling up in a blanket with Ma for long talks on the parents bed
• Cup of coffee and the twinkling stars on the back deck
• The sound of Satan's crow in the morning that is so piercing I could hear it in my bomb shelter of a room.
• Dad walking back from church whistling and doing his snap clap hand gesture
• The smell of baking bread when I came home from school
• Grandma writing letters at the kitchen table
• Hearing Grandpa's walker race down the hallway
• Laying on the short couch chatting with Isaac and Katrina, who were curled up on the big one
• Coming up the stairs to see Isaac doing homework in the family room, Seth on the computer and Ma and Dad playing cards with Jed curled up on the kitchen floor
• Dad stroking his beard at the computer while typing a sermon 
• Finally giving in to the begging for cookie dough after school or late at night
• Quoting movies or tv shows at dinner
• Listen to Dad whistle the theme song from "Scrubs" when Ma has forbidden we us not to watch that show
• Seeing Ma sit at her coffee table doing her devotions

Here are a few older ones from the Concordia house

• Racing to meet Dad at lunchtime as he walked home from school
• Playing basketball in the basement using a ice cream bucket as the hoop
• Singing the Pink Panther theme song every time we saw the Pink Panther Insulation logo from the basement
• Thinking that under the basement stairs was the best hiding place for Hide n Seek even if it was the 200th game. 
• Lady giving birth to puppies in the kitchen by the garage door
• Going mud sliding in the back lot while Ma stood on the porch yelling at us to come in every time she saw lightening and then fighting for showers afterwards
• Foreign students staying with us for Christmas..there were so many
• Getting a new Disney movie every Christmas
• Building gingerbread houses and having Grandpa come and smash them
• Walking in puddles every time it rained
• Playing wiffle ball and football in the back lot
• "The Fort"-enough said

I could go on and on.. 

It is nice to be able to really stop and think about so many great memories. So much has changed since the house in Concordia, yet so has it in Ernestville as well. The greatest thought is knowing Ma and Dad have remained constant through it all. I thank God every day for my parents. 

"The greatest journey always brings you home." 

Weddding

This weekend I had the privilege and honor to go to my second cousin's wedding in Milwaukee. The wedding was one of the most fun I had ever been to. This was for many reasons. Not only was it planned to perfection, it was with none other than the Herrmann clan. :D Those of you who aren't fortune enough to know them, let me tell you, wherever they are, happiness and laughter abounds. Those of you who are my friends on Facebook, check out the videos. That is the only way to partially describe the events.

The wedding was so beautiful. And different!!! It was so perfect for Angie though. For example, when we arrived at the hotel she had a gift package full of some of her and Scott's favorite things about Milwaukee included 4 cans of the most popular beers in the city. Followed by a fully color coded folder full of EVERYTHING. There was the running joke of the weekend about where the "Red Folder" was. She has been waiting for this for so long...It was wonderful. On top of that, my 90 year old Grandma was the flower girl. She did so great. I was so happy to be back with my Mom and Dad as well. There is just something I so enjoy about my mother. I assume we have passed my adolescent relationship with her and now have a true friendship. She is so much fun and I just love her so very dearly. My dad and I got to dance to Frank Sinatra which might have been the cherry on top of my fabulous weekend! I haven't laughed and smiled and been so happy in a while as I was this weekend with those I love so dearly.

Can't wait for next weekend :D : D

Football

    

I am not all that different than most people in the world right now, yet I have to get this off my chest....

I LOVE FOOTBALL!!!! 

If I had to go back and be forced to choose something else other than Nanny School, I would have gone and been a college football manager. I loved managing SO much. I miss it every day. I have spent most of my day watching college football in the backround of my daily duties for work. I watched Nebraska kick Washington's butt, while being envious of Jake and Erin being at that game. I watched Ohio State blow out Ohio a.k.a the "Posey Bowl" and I watched on edge while Michigan State proved to be the better team vs. Notre Dame in an incredible OT win. Did I mention, I LOVE FOOTBALL! 

I wish with all my heart I could justify going to college for a social life and to be a part of sports teams again. I miss Friday nights like nothing else.... 

ESPN has had PAC 10 commercials running most of the day and I get goosebumps every time.  Ah, to get pumped and feel the adrenaline before a game or after a big W... 

Kenny Chesney has a new song called, "The Boys of Fall." I wanted to cry the first time I heard the intro... So powerful. 

I am jealous my sister, Sarah gets to root on not only a college team every week, but her hubby behind the team all the way. Go Bulldogs!!!! 

Basically, I will live vicariously through everyone who gets the opportunity to have Friday Night Lights....... 

Recap and Retrievers

Right....So lets recap last nights depressed attempt at writing out my frustrations...

On second thought, lets just let that one die in a fiery pit.

As promised, the sun rose today and it was a beautiful day. One week til I get to see my parents and sassy Grandma in Milwaukee for what might be the craziest wedding of 2010. SOOOOO excited.

I went to my favorite coffee shop earlier this evening and there in the doorway was theeeee sweetest golden retriever laying there. It was wearing a bandana and everything. To accompany her was a matching adorable old man on a cell phone who managed to talk to whoever was on the other end and comment on each and every person that even looked at his dog. He told me to go ahead and pet her because thats what they come there for. This fed my desire for a canine. I want a golden retriever SO bad. I might push myself to get my own apartment just so I can finally have my own dog. My fellow nanny, Jodie has one of the best trained dogs I know. She wants a golden retriever too, so between the two of us, I think we can make it happen sooner than later. If she gets one first, Ill come spoil hers and vice versa. I think I figured out how I am going to meet people as well. Jodie's boyfriend, Steve works at this animal shelter in Denver. She thinks I would love it and since I love animals, I can't see why not. Plus, this might open the doors for me to adopt my golden. :)

    

So I guess you call it official puppy love..

F.M.L

It is the end of the day and I am not at all in a good mood. It is one of those days that I want to tell everyone to shove it and crawl in a dark hole of self pity. Why I have these intense emotions of despair? Nooooooo idea. Which frustrates me more. You imagined having this picture at the top of this blog to lead to sweet, poetic words of joy and beauty...ehhhh not so much. It is more my reminder that better things exist. Do you ever have that feeling that you know you shouldn't feel some way and yet you feel it anyways? Yeah.. I'm there.. Lame.
Something that ticks me off is people.... some people have such nerve about stuff it is ridiculous. Others are so pathetic it makes me feel sorry for them. Then some think they are so smart they get a big kick in the ass by their own naivety.....Anyways..this is my sunset on my bad attitude. Tomorrow will come with new light, clean air and a better outlook on this crappy thing called life. Good night. 

Hard as Nails

The Dahlkes...well the girls atleast are known for our nail biting/picking. Horrid, horrid habit, yes. However, in our defense its a compulsive disorder not a disgusting one....

Ever since I was in Portland last year, I have been trying my hardest to stop this horrid habit.  My mother thinks its hereditary til we reach about eh...70. I guess my grandma was that way as well. I am determined to beat the genes. I have realized however, no matter how much I work on them to keep them hard and clean, I only let them reach a certain length before I trim them down. I just flat out don't like having long nails. I feel as if they limit what I can do. When I got fake nails for prom or any other special occasion, the acrylic is suppose to last like what, atleast 2 weeks? Give me one before I had either filed them down or ripped them off. Hopeless.


I must give myself a pat on the back for being better than I used to. My nails are still very short and you can tell I pick at them, but they are sooo much better than before. My goal is to try and get them to a point where I can go get a manicure with my real nails and see if that helps...I am currently aiming for when I go home in a few weeks... Here's to all you nail biters. I refuse to continue for another 50 years!!

Camping and Concerts

I want to go camping SO bad.

I live in Colorado for goodness sake, and winter is coming quickly. I am torn because I want to go so bad yet I am still so new I have no one to go with. I want to go hiking in the mountains and explore the beautiful land I now live in. I also am reaching a point where I soon won't be able to go to a Red Rocks concert. Still searching for a fellow The National lover who will go to the Oct. concert with me..

Solution to listed issues: Meet more people.

Plan to reach solution.......

• Take a college course or two
• Go some sports event no matter how awkward it may be
• Continue to go to the same places over and over until I have the guts to talk to pple
• Visit a few more churches (I love the one I am at though...)
• Get a part time job in the mornings
• Join some sort of  class (knitting, ceramics, cooking)
• Walk around aimlessly w a shirt that says "Hi, Im Grace, Will you be my friend?"

Problem is I just don't know how to go about this...

End Result: Dead end and frustrated. 

My Saving Grace

Nothing like just finishing cleaning up dinner and settling down for a cup of hot peppermint tea when all of a sudden you find yourself rushing around waking up "G" because you have to take the baby, "D" to the E.R.

Scary night. My saving grace...a 2 year old. She was a total rock star. "D," 9 month old that I work with as a nanny had some sort of reaction to her Flu and Hep. B shot she had previously today. A 17 lb baby with acid reflux throwing up everything in her stomach and more is quite frightening. She was also running a fever and began to reaction to sudden change in body temperature. I have never seen a baby so pale.


As I rushed into the 2 yr old's room and told her she needed to wake up she greets me with a hello and a whats up. I told her we were going on an adventure and that she could bring her blanket and Barney. She smiled and says in an adorable voice, "Okay!" She realizes it is still dark out as we rush down the stairs and she says, "Its dark out. Barney doesn't like the dark. I am going to give him cuddles and make him feel better." She was so great all the way to the hospital and 20 minutes later when we left to go home, she couldn't have been a better child. This is all so wonderful and surprising because on a normal day to day before this past week, she was a holy terror and we all waited on edge waiting for her next screaming escapade. God truly is good.

Still don't know much info on the baby yet. They are going to keep her overnight.

Lord, I ask that you be with the doctors and nurses as they tend to little "D." Also give Steph a peace about her that she may trust those around her and know not only is she in good hands at a hospital but that her child is in Your Hands. Thank you for Jodie. She is Steph's saving grace and knows exactly what to do to pull the entire family through. Thank you for giving "G" the sense to know something was wrong and be the gem you created her to be. Both of these girls are so special. I ask that you guard and keep us all this night as we go through lack of sleep and anticipation. Amen. 

Branching Off

So after going back and forth between whether to make this blog solely travel related or just have it be my every day outlet.
You've probably figured out I have chosen the latter. I could make another blog and write of my ramblings and musings(sorry sisters, no pun intended), however I just simply don't have it in me at this point and it would make it harder on you, my readers. Heaven forbid I don't think of you. :)

I am very excited about this church  I am attending. It is a mission church that meets at Parker Lutheran High School. They have just begun their building process. How amazing is it going to be later on to say that I was there when it all began? I'm thrilled.So........ I volunteered to teach Sunday School starting this week. I chose middle school because if I have to deal with any more toddlers, I might go insane. It was a give and take decision. I have always thought about teaching Sunday School, nevertheless I will be sad to be missing out on Bible Study each week. I am hoping through getting involved, I can somehow branch out of my social realm even though they are few people my age in the church. My thinking is people know other people, right?

So after my dramatic chop of the bangs.. I am musing about whether to get a perm... I have thought about it many times before, yet as soon as I am about ready to do it, my hair starts to curl wonderfully on its own. Being in Colorado where the humidity is negative four, I think I can finally justify it. I may chicken out considering the most that I've ever done to my hair is cut it....It could be that I am also horrified by stories of my mother destroying my sisters hair giving her a perm....Even professionals are human too!  We shall see what comes of it all.