Tim Tebow.

So, I snagged the newest edition of 5280 Magazine from work because it had the "Mile High Messiah" a.k.a Tim Tebow on the front. This #15 has caused quite a stir in the Mile High City, and I have yet to figure out why. Yes, the kid is a college football genius and had an amazing college football career - but what makes him so popular? Especially when he is 3rd string quarter back (behind Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn)! Regardless, Mike and I were talking about his very public faith (so did the article in the magazine) and concluded that his relationship with the Lord and positive, yet humble, attitude will be a good thing for the Broncos - and even more for the city of Denver. The downtown part of Denver has 0 churches; I belive our pastor called it a "black hole". We're not in the  Bible Belt any more.


Here, take this quote: (oh good gosh, I have forgotten all of my formatting for inserting a quote into the middle of a paper, Mrs. McComas, please forgive me)

" Football is just a platform for me," he says, alluding to his very public faith. "The games are a bonus. But I also recognize that to keep that platform, I have to perform. I think Denver fans will see how willing I am to work hard to make sure I keep it." He pauses. "I think I can make it work."
   And there it is, plainly stated, appropriately humble and yet supremely confident. What, or where, does this come from? Does it come from the fact that he has always been told he was a golden boy - the Golden Boy - and he can't understand a universe in which he isn't the best? Or does it come from within, from his God, from an inner confidence that only he understands? 

You see, I don't think the author of this article understands the Christian faith. This "what works for you" attitude is clearly what people in Denver like to assume upon everyone when it comes to "religion". If you are a Christian and that's what "works for you" then great. If you believe in meditation and karma and that "works for you" then fabulous. Whatever makes you happy...basically. Mr. Tebow - if you could, please, stand up for Jesus. Be very public about your faith in the Lord and continue to love Our God on the bench, to your teammates, and to this city desperate to hear the truth. And, it's okay if you're a virgin (just wanted to put that in there), it's actually a pretty cool thing.


I FINALLY have my husband home from 9 weeks of summer camp. Praise the Lord! It was a tough summer, but I think my little hubby touched the lives of many, many campers and counselors. Although it wasn't a faith-based camp - I know that Jesus was glorified in his life and hopefully those around him were able to see a difference.  It was a blast traveling to and fro - through the little town of Nederland (where I got a speeding ticket) - through the woods that hold crazy guys with guns - through little local bars - and through very large moose that graze in the local ponds. The Lord's plan will always prevail. 


And right now, I feel like our lives are open for the next step - whatever that may be. There is an old Audio A song that says, " I wanna be your hands, I wanna be your feet. I'll go where you send me, go where you send me." My Lord, I will go where you send me, er, us. I love you. Love Wins!

Discipline.

I need to preface this post by saying - I do NOT think I am overweight nor am I dieting to LOSE a significant amount of weight. I truly just need, discipline. Yes, discipline.


Have you ever sat a box of oreos beside you and snacked on them while watching a tv show? Or, like me, eaten a substantial amount of sweets at work because people bring free food in all the time? Before you know it, an entire sleeve is gone and your stomach starts to hurt. TOO MUCH SUGAR!!!!! Then, the guilt. Oh, the guilt...which the majority of the time ends with, I've already screwed up, guess I'll eat another sleeve (or two). I just might be talking about my own eating habits, maybe yours too? After gaining a few pounds and feeling really guilty about by recent eating habits I decided I needed a little accountability.


My husband? No, he has lost several lbs over the summer from being at camp. My husband has the metabolism of a small child.
My friends? Friends that I would trust to keep me accountable are a thousand miles away.
Sigh.


After much research, I've made a decision to exercise discipline, exercise my body, and exercise my mind. It's time to make myself accountable for what I eat. Helllloooooooo Weight Watchers. I have heard so many positive responses from people who have jumped on this bandwagon; I've decided to let Weight Watchers online exercise discipline for me. Plus, the 3-month membership fee is also a fire under my buns to put my full effort into project, "1 good decision leads to another". Isn't that on a commercial? Anyway, it's how I picture this project. Tracking my points and having to decide where I want to "spend" (although WW doesn't encourage this view of the points system) them:


1. On 5 oreos
or
2. Teriyaki Turkey Burgers with a side salad.


What would YOU do?


Ack! Tomorrow will be the first weight, we'll see what happens. Regardless, discipline in my eating habits will hopefully generalize to my exercise habits and spiritual habits. I've already experienced the satisfaction of what self-control can bring and I look forward to pushing myself to establishing more healthy, earth healthy habits in the near future (i.e. joining a co-op for food).  Your body is a temple, right? So let's treat it like one....I mean, we only get one - so be good to it!

On my visit home, I......

Learned these 2 very important things: 

1. I found my lifelong friend - and I watched her marry the man of her dreams - and I cried. Hard. I've always heard that a girl has one friend that lasts a lifetime, I'm pretty sure I've found mine. 


2. I'm not ready to move "home"....to my Kentucky home, that is. The peace I felt coming off the plane into DEN was indescribable. Our time here is not yet up. 


So, in a nutshell that was my trip. Now, I'm back in CO enjoying the humidity of 10%, planning backpacking trips, buying climbing gear (rope, quickdraws, slings, etc), raising money for my walk, going to the Mile High Music Festival, and drinking a Fat Tire. Life is good.


Well, life will be better when Mike is home from camp and my evenings can get back to "normal". 
Life is never perfect, right? 


Love wins!

There a few things pure in this world anymore, and home is one of the few.

I had the most fabulous day today (actually the entire month of July has been fabulous). First, here is how it ended - with a 6.5 trail walk/run through Flatirons Vista Park.

Today was record heat in the Denver area, but you wouldn't guess it. The dry air makes it feel like 90 instead of 95 and once that sun goes beyond those lovely Rocky Mountains, things cool down quickly. I am not exactly sure if the summer months make up for the 9 1/2 months of winter, but it's close enough for me. Before taking this marvelous trail, I met Michael in Boulder to give him some key items he left at the house before heading up to camp (i.e. underwear, pants, and a sleeping big...all of which are pretty necessary at camp, agreed?) we grabbed a bite to eat, talked about camp, then he headed up into the mountains, and I headed down. I then spent almost 2 hours hiking myself back into these "flatirons". By the time I was finished, and the dogs were finally tired, I turned around to see the sun setting beyond those mountains.


There were several dozen sun rays shooting out as the sun sank low below the mountain. I often think of those "rays" as a gift from the Lord, kind of like a rainbow (I have a story about that in a minute). I picture his face then the rays of sunshine beaming so bright from something even brighter. I couldn't capture a picture of this particular one, but hopefully you know what I'm talking about. A particular song popped into my head with these lyrics:


All who are thirsty
And all who are weak
Come to the fountain
Dip your heart in the stream of life

Let the pain and the sorrow
Be washed away
In the waves of His mercy
As deep cries out to deep, we sing

Come, Lord Jesus, come
Come, Lord Jesus, come


At that very moment, all I could think about is just asking my God to come into my life. To wash all of my pain and sorrrow away and truly dip my heart into his streams of life. The breeze began to start blowing past my body - yes, come Holy Spirit, please, I need You. So, for a few moments I truly let myself enjoy the Lord invading my body and then, with what words I could muster I said, "thanks." Words completely escaped me and as I watched the sun set beyond the mountains, and the sun rays fading, I thought to myself, "this is exactly where I need to be right now. Why would I ever leave the peace and presence of the Lord?" You know me, always looking for something more - but truly - our lives are so at peace with our surroundings it is kind of scary.


I always pictured myself moving home, made plans to move home, wanted our children to be raised at "home". But, where is "home" anyway? Granted I have a pretty amazing farm and immediate family in Winchester, but does that make it "home"? Or is home now where Mike and I have made it? I made my sister a pillow one time that said, "Home is where the Horse is." Is that true? Oh boy. I'm going to have to chew on this thought for a while...what do you think? Do I have a misconception as to what exactly "home" is? What do YOU consider home?


I am going to Winchester next Tuesday for my best friend's wedding. I cannot belive the summer is going by this fast! We recently had Nashville friends in town for a few days and in a couple days my brother in law is coming up to spend 2 wks in Colorful Colorado! Life never ends, does it?

Here is a picture of a rainbow - one that appeard to my fellow 3-day walker Debbie and I right after we finished walking 11 miles in 3 hours. What a promise, right? So if this is what we saw on our way HOME from the walk, here is what we saw as we were leaving her driveway:

AHH! This is NOT a lawn ornament! This is a live, wild, elk sitting munching on someone's front lawn! WTC! Can you belive this? Look at the rack on this thing (ha! That's what she said). Unbelieveable, truly, it is.




So, tell me what home is for you. Do you have an elk in your front yard? Even as a lawn ornament? My dogs are snoring they are sleeping so hard, I think I might follow in their footsteps.


Love you all, Love wins.

blessed.

i am so blessed. look at my beautiful family!

I said............

 Okay, because I'm feeling so generous with my words/blogging today (or maybe I feel guilty) I'm bringing back a video that I'm sure we've all seen, but can still laugh at, none the less. Enjoy!

Lessons Learned, this week at least.....

So, I bought this awesome game on my iPhone called Angry Birds - and this one liiiiitle game has consumed my time and blogging has seemed to take the back burner. Okay, not really. Although, I did buy that game on my phone, and it is pretty awesome to play while laying in a hammock in the Rocky Mountains, but it doesn't excuse my hiatus from blogging. So much has gone on - you know what that means! A TOP TEN! yeah yeah. Don't get too excited now, there is more to come this week. Here is a list of the 10 lessons I've learned within the past week:






10. Don't charge over the old runners while weaving your way through thousands of other people while trying to get to the water station. Oh, and try to catch the marshmallows neighbors are throwing at mile marker 2.22. Say hi to Dr. Oz as you pass him being interviewed on TV and enjoy that cold Mich Ultra beer after completing 6.2 miles in less than an hour.

 *The Bolder Boulder was Ah-mazing! I will do it again next year, hopefully dragging along my reluctant husband. So entertaining - tons of amazing costumes, bands, food, and interesting people that are passing you while you say "how are they running faster than me????". Oh, and I placed 15,818 in probably a 54,000 field. Gender field: 5570 out of 26494 - I suppose that's decent.


9. Working Sundays are the pits, but it's totally worth it on Friday when you realize that it truly is Friday and not Saturday and bam! you automatically have one extra day added on to your weekend. Sa-weet! Worked a Sunday, again, today. Sucked, but I know come Friday - totally worth it.


8. Dancing hippies involved in dancing at shows at Red Rocks don't mind sharing their space. Josh, Beth, Mike and myself shimmied (well, I shimmied, I don't know about the rest of the crew) down closer and closer to the front and poof! Soon our view was like this: 



Look at that John Butler cutie! Take a look at the video at the bottom - rockin'! I think Red Rocks might be, no, I'm pretty sure it's my favorite venue EVER to watch a show. You know you want to see a show here, just do it. We got tix to see David Gray & Ray LaMontagne at the end of August, you still have time to buy some plane tickets and high tail it out here!


7. Dreams really can come true! I was driving home from work one day early last week and dreaming in my head, "I could really dig an Ale8 right now. How awesome it would be to have some Ale8s sitting on my front porch when I get home." Of course, Ale8s only appear when you BUY them.  Then, like a weird deja vu, I see a UPS truck pull out of our subdivision. My heart skipped a beat; Could it be? I slowly pull up to the driveway, and I'm not kidding folks, there, on my front porch were two beautiful, brown, cardboard boxes. Beauty only a case of A Late One could bring. And so, I just want to thank my mother for making my dreams come true, thanks mom!


6. Marriages are happy when husbands are happy. And my husband is happy, so there!

5.  Friends that let friends home share music off their computer must be true friends. True friends put together composters for friends. They also leave a case of local beer in the fridge and some other yummy treats when they leave. Oh! And they introduce you to a TV show on FOX called Glee - AND give you the entire run down of the first season so you can watch the finale and know exactly what's going on. Thanks Josh and Beth Graham for being such good friends. Please come and visit again, soon.






4. Dogs that get locked in the Gaga Pit can't get out.


3. When it rains on a tin roof of a cabin you are sleeping in, instant joy warms your heart and sleep ensues for hours. Then, when you wake up and it's still raining you say, "Guess I'll just sleep more, not much to do outside today." This is especially memorable when you have a dog that is scared of thunderstorms and a dog that is spoiled up on the bed taking in the same noises. Although for some reason they don't find them near as relaxing. Has someone marketed that sound in a sound machine?


2. Raising money makes me feel sleezy - but good non-profit companies like Boys and Girls Club and Susan G. Komen for the Cure make me happy. Only 75 more days until my walk - I have to continue to raise money, but I just hate being pesty!


1.


That list is in no particular order, only by which I could remember what exactly has transpired in the past week. Mom and Dad Skaggs are arriving in the Mile High City on Thursday....a weekend of The Buckhorn Exchange, fly fishing, Rockies Game, shopping and showing my parents our life here in CO will bring another top ten list to the surface in a week, I'm sure. May the Lord continue to bless your life, send amazing friends and family your way, and may you give thanks daily for the many blessings. I know I don't do that enough. Love Wins!