Weekend with the parents!

It was so refreshing to have my parents here for a few days. It gave Curtis and I an opportunity to see and experience more of the sights in the area. In Bloomington, MN there are an endless amount of activities to do and sights to see. Here are just a few of them we got to experience with my parents.

Excelsior, on Lake Minnetonka

The water was so clear and clean that I could see my ankles while standing in water up to my shoulders. We all swam out to a sand bar that was a ways from the shore. I had never seen a sandbar in a lake before. 

We also went to downtown Minneapolis to have dinner at a restaurant that sat right on the river. We did not know that they were having fireworks that same night right on the river. So we got to see fireworks go off over the city lights. 

The State Capitol

"Everyone point at the capitol!"

That's my husband :)

Gone campin'

Curtis and I decided to take a couple of days to go camping this weekend… the first time ever since we’ve been married. It was a awesome and relaxing get away for just the two of us but it wasn’t without some lessons from the Lord. We packed up our car and had a perfect plan of where we wanted to camp for the night about 1 hour outside of the Twin Cities. The last time we had visited the park on a nice weekend there was hardly anyone there so we thought that we would have no problems getting in. But to our surprise… once we arrived we discovered that all the camp sites had been filled. There was not one spot open.

This was so disappointing since we had been planning this trip for a few weeks and had drove an hour to get there. But I asked Curtis to back in to ask if they knew of any other parks around the area that we could go to instead. The man was very helpful and gave us a few more numbers to call. The first number was busy and so Curtis tried the second. The man who answered the phone said that we were about another 20 minutes away and that he should have an opening by the time we got there. 

So we hit the road and prayed that God would reserve a spot for us since it was first come- first serve. As I drove, I admit that I was a bit stressed in my heart that we would not get a spot to camp. Which was disappointing since I had been look forward to this trip for a few weeks now.

But God told me to continue to trust him and rest my heart in Him. As we pulled into the beautiful park I noticed that it was nestled right up next to a beautiful lake where there were boats, skiers, wakeboarders, etc. I thought to myself that this park could be much better than the one we originally planned on going to. It turns out that they only had a couple of camp spots left in the park and they gave us what I think to be the best one. It was a private sight, all to ourselves and just a off the beach to the lake. We were not surrounded by other campers and people. But instead we were set up on top of a small hill overlooking the other camp ground area. This spot was sooo much better than what Curtis and I had planned and expected.

So God taught me this … we may have our plan perfect and our direction set but where God wants to take us is so much better! Curtis and I had an amazing camping trip planned but God had a different place He wanted to take us this weekend. It was a much better camp site and at much better park! In the same way, He has such a better plan for our lives than what we could have ever hoped, dreamed or imagined for ourselves.

So the lesson that was refreshed in my heart is to let go and let God lead and even redirect my life in the way He chooses. I have peace in knowing that His plan is so much better than mine!!!!

Here are some pics from our camping weekend!!!

I love this picture for 2 reasons

1. the awesome light squiggle lines from the spark above the fire.

2. you can see the lights from the other campers fires in the background!

Our little patio garden!

So this summer Curtis and I have spent many afternoons, evenings and meals relaxing on our little patio. We are on the 3rd floor of our apartment building and have a nice size patio overlooking a portion of campus. I have tried my best to make our patio feel "homey" and welcoming for ourselves and others. We are also trying out our "green thumbs" and so decided to do some planting. I have never really gotten into planting flowers myself but this summer it has been a joy to see the flowers grow and bloom.

There is also an older man on campus who has a lush garden on the property here. So we stop by ever so often to check out how his fruits and vegetables are growing this summer. Of course, when we see him there we like to ask him so many questions about gardening. He loves to talk about his garden and could stand there all day giving us tips that he has learned throughout the years and we could stand there all day listening too, just soaking in his knowledge. We are so interested because one day we want to have our own garden for our family. Our hope is that many of our fruits and vegetable would come from our home garden that we keep together as a family.


But that is a ways down the road and impossible for this season of life, since all we have is an outdoor patio on the 3rd floor. So we'll just start with flowers and some small veggies in a pot for right now. Here are some pics... 

It is amazing how God's creation works together, just a little bit of sun and water each day can make a world of difference for plants!