Patience for patients

Ever have one of those days when you are running low on patience? Well, today was one of those days for me. There were several moments today when I was taking deep breaths and asking for God's help. Sometimes, to be honest, it is tough to be patient with my patients. (Ha, such a funny sentence!). I found myself responding with, "Sure! Of course.... no problem! Looks great!" when I was thinking "Really? Are you kidding me? Oy!" But you know what the best part of these days are? There is always an end. Once I got home, saw my handsome hubby, played with the pup, ate some FOOD, and relaxed a bit I felt better. And hopefully with a good night's sleep I will have more patience for my patients tomorrow :-)

Mario was baptized!

There was a baptism at our church yesterday and many people, who had signed up, participated. It was a really sweet moment to witness. At the end of the service Pastor Jason opened the invitation for anyone who desired to be baptized and one of our students from Sac State went forward!

Greg just led him to Christ this past January and God has been doing incredible things in his life. My heart was full watching him follow the Lord's call on his heart. Congrats Mario!

My kind of hike :-)

Today was amazing. Greg and I decided to celebrate our anniversary today since my mom was visiting during our actual anniversary day (which was super fun to have her here!) We had planned to go on a hike, since that is what Greg loves to do, and then get all cleaned up for a nice dinner out, which I love doing. Sounded like great plans to me, but little did I know the hubby had a completely different plan up his sleeve.

It started this morning when he took care of the pup and let me sleep in, so wonderful! Then when I woke up, I was given a super sweet card with a surprise inside: we were going on a totally different kind of hike. There was money inside of another envelope that said he was taking me on a shopping spree. The conditions were: I had to spend all the money today and it had to all be spent on me. I was WAY excited, since many of my summer clothes are too big on me and I haven't shopped in a long time as we have been saving for a house.

So, we got ready, packed up the pup, and headed to the east bay. Grandma & Grandpa Triplett puppy-sat (thank you!) and we shopped, till we dropped! Greg was so selfless and such a servant when we shopped, running and getting me other sizes and offering great fashion advice. Really. We finished with a yummy dinner in down town Walnut Creek (where we had our first date exactly two years ago) and some time relaxing in his parent's spa.

It was such an incredible day; I am left with a heart full of love for my sweet husband. He was so thoughtful and sacrificed his desires for mine. I am truly blessed with him, and I look forward to being his wife for many, many more years. And who knows, maybe we will have time for that (real) hike afterall. :-) THANK YOU GREGORY TRIPLETT!! I love you to the moon and back.

Baby, baby, baby!

I had the chance to catch up with a friend of mine today. We were close friends during hygiene school and some days I am pretty sure it was our friendship that helped me survive :-). She is having a sweet baby boy at the end of this month, and I am so excited for her! I got to reflecting on all the babies of friends that have recently been born or those who are about to enter the world. (Like my soon-to-be second niece at the end of this month!) Babies are such a sweet blessing from the Lord. They are so small, vulnerable, and intricately made. So, a warm congrats to all my friends who have reccently been blessed, or will be very shortly, with a precious bundle of joy!

A great way to start a day..

Remember how incredible summer time was when you were a kid? All the time in the world to do just about anything. The best feeling ever, right?! Well today felt like one of those summer days. There is a wonderful trail by our house that all three of us love. It is so peaceful, quiet, and spacious. There is a body of water (not a lake, kind of a large pond? I am bad with knowing these sorts of things..), geese, herons, and other small wildlife. We went on this walk around nine and Bailey was much more adventurous than normal. She BOUNDED through the brush and finally found the water. We have done this same walk several times and knew it was only a matter of time before she discovered her favorite thing: water. It was just such a sweet time connecting with Greg and laughing at our energetic (and soaking wet) pup. These days are my favorite and very precious to me. Whenever Greg and I reflect on favorite memories, we usually agree that we love our walks together. I pray that we can continue to have them, with them someday turning into family walks.  

My in-laws are a blessing

Yes, you read the title right. My in-laws are a blessing in my life! I am so grateful for both Paul and Janice. They have done an incredible job raising their son (and daughter :-)). They are always so willing to love, serve, encoruage, and share in our lives. I appreciate that they believe the best in us and dont put unrealistic expectations on our time. We had the opportunity to see them tonight, have a yummy dinner, and get caught up in eachother's lives. It was time well spent. They are an incredible addition to the already outstanding parents I have. So, thank you Tripletts for being a godly example and a great influence in our marriage!

Trust

Tonight at our last small group session (sad!) we discussed what it looks like to trust God and trust our spouses. Such a great conversation! What is trust? How do we do it? Do we do it? These exact questions I have been wrestling with for the last 6 months (at least). Some say trusting is easy, others say it is nearly impossible. For those that it is more difficult, usually something hurtful has happened. And my lack of trust started with hurt. When my parents were moved I was heartbroken, heartbroken by God. It has taken three years, many tough times, and plenty of tears to realize I am on a very specific journey of learning to trust God. At times I have felt extremely guilty for lacking trust, for being mad at God, and even distancing myself from him. But you know what? It's okay. David got angry with God, Jacob wrestled with God, and even Jesus had his heartbroken. I look back and I am amazed at how far God has brought me. My journey ahead of me is still long and uncertain causing me to be timid, impatient, and even fearful; but to quote Mike Otto "trust breeds trust". So true! I can press on because I have a Lord that is 100% trustworthy guiding me. (And he has given me a pretty awesome hubby too :-))

Thank you!

It's just about time for bed, but I did not want today to end without thanking the men and women who fought for our freedom starting on June 6, 1944. I remember watching the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers" with Greg last summer. They rocked my world. It was bonechilling and very emotional to see what these Americans went through. It makes me proud to be an American and deeply grateful for their bravery and dedication. If you have not seen the miniseries, watch it. Seriously. Thank you to all our soldiers, from the bottom of my heart. You are true Heros!!

His & Hers

Well, nothing too dynamic happened today. We had a great morning at church and a busy afternoon of housework (for me) and schoolwork (for Greg). So, I decided to have Greg and I answer a few silly questions!

1. When was the last time you laughed really hard?
Greg: Our dinner with our staff team (Jacob & Caellin Douglas) at Mikuni
Amanda: Probably the women's retreat with Kami Tolar. She is hilarious!

2. What is your favorite thing about the opposite sex?
Greg: (pause) They bring beauty into the world
Amanda: Thier strength (emotionally & physically)

3. What do you want to know about the future?
Greg: Where we will live next year
Amanda: I agree!

4. If you were famous for something what would you want it to be?
Greg: Impacting eternity
Amanda: Anything I say will sound lame compared to Greg's answer! I was going to say a singer, but impacting eternity is legit! :-)

5. One random fact:
Greg: (taking forever to respond, he is way disctracted by the TV.. ha! I'll answer for him.) He plays Settlers of Catan online. INSERT NERD JOKE HERE. If you dont even know what that game is, its okay. Dont waste your time :-)
Amanda: I eat like a 5 year old. Cheerios, peanut butter and jelly, graham crackers, gummy bears, and so on!

Clearlake (a day late!)

OOPS! I already missed a day. We went to Clearlake, CA allll day yesterday. I was so exhausted when I got home, I went straight to bed. We are a part of a young married's small group, which we adore. The leaders of our group have a lake house and set aside a day for us to all get away. The orginal plans were to include swimming, boating, jet-skiing, inertubing, sun-bathing, and so on. Little did we know that in JUNE, it would be pouring rain and cold!

Well we decided to go any way, and we had a great day! Even though we stayed indoors, we had a blast. There were puzzles, games, great food, excellent company, and plenty of laughter. Bailey tagged along and had a great time getting plenty of attention and even playing fetch in the lake (in the rain!) We have been blessed with so many great young married couples and have so much love for each couple. A BIG "thank you" to Mike & Vicky for all the hard work they put into making yesterday so fun!

Hey batter, batter!

Well, tonight kicks off Greg's softball season! Last summer he joined a team with a lot of men from our church and played on Friday nights. And... it is that time again! He will be playing on the same team, and he is pretty excited. Many of the player's wives and children go to the games, so it is a fun way to spend part of a Friday evening. I remember going to the games last summer when we had only been married for a few weeks! Crazy! (The picture above is actually from last summer, but I am sure tonights outfit will be similar. Last year, he got the nickname "socks" because of these ridiculous socks he insists on wearing. Its too funny.)

This year will be a little different because Greg will have a new cheerleader in the stands: Bailey! Since the games are at a park here in town she is allowed to attend. I am sure that she will LOVE going, and probably want to help chase balls in the outfield. We will see how well she behaves. I am crossing my fingers the rain holds off for tonight so we dont get dumped on. Rain, rain go away! Or at least just wait until later.. ha!

Well, I need to go fix my all-star player some dinner! Go Greg! Hopefully the first game will be a "win" :-)

Bailey in a Bucket

Well, we just got home from a very eventful trip to a new dog park. We usually go to the one across the street from our apartment, but tonight we went on a drive and ended up at a park we had never gone to. It was much larger than ours; including kiddie pool of water, a tunnel that ran under a hill, and a ton of grass to run on. But... there were no dogs for Bailey to play with. Sad!

She ran around for a bit, sniffing and eating grass, and right when we were going to leave an owner with two cocker spaniels arrived! We agreed to stay for a few more minutes but we soon learned the three dogs were going to be best of buds. An hour later we had exhausted dogs that we SOAKING wet and MUDDY! It was hilarious to watch the pups chase one another, wrestle, run in and out of the pool of water and bark as one would lay down to rest. Rest later, play now!

As we decided to leave we were faced with a dilemma: how are we going to get Bailey home? She was filthy and my car seats are beige.. Very problematic. So, we opened up my trunk to see what I had. A flashlight, CD's, umbrella... and a bucket. So, into the bucket she went for the drive home! It was too cute when she curled up and closed her eyes on the drive home, creating dirty pools of water underneath her.

Now, she is home and all clean. Curled up and ready to sleep for (hopefully) many, many hours. What a fun night!

June gloom!

Well, it is officially June. I believe that the sun and rain are playing a little joke because it certainly feels like March outside. Yet, the rain took a small break so we could take our pup on a walk and get all of her wiggles out! Thank goodness.

So I have this idea: I am going to try to blog every day in June. Some days it may be a funny story from my day, a picture of something that happened, or little facts about me or my family. Who knows! The sky is the limit I suppose.

Greg and I celebrated our one year anniversary Monday and it was so sweet. We watched our wedding video, looked through our photos, and even reenacted our cake / strawberry feeding from our big day. (The day of the wedding I had a strawberry since I could not have the cake, ha! And yes, the cake was the top layer of our wedding cake. Frozen for a whole year, Greg said it was a bit dry... Hmm, go figure?) I love that we have been married a year, it has been a super sweet year and I cant wait for MANY more!

Today, I did my best attempt at a Hawaiian-ish dinner, played Hawaiian music, and even wore the dress I wore to our luau in Maui. All of this since we were in Maui this time last year! Ahh, it be on a beach listening to waves.. But for now we are in not-so-sunny Elk Grove.

Well, I am off to watch "Tangled" with Greg & Bailey! Goodbye, for now :-)