Surprise!

Last weekend was Grant's birthday. Every birthday of his since we've been married has been pretty crazy. The first year, he was out of town working, so I drove and met him in Bartlesville, OK so that we could celebrate together. I put a little scavenger hunt together for him throughout our hotel room and in the car. We had a nice dinner and played a yard game (one of his birthday presents) in a nearby park. We were content and made it work. The next year, I was just starting my internship and life was crazy. I was seeing my first clients ever and was consumed with new paperwork, homework, clients... I did take him to see Daughtry in concert, which was one of our favorite memories together. Last year, I had just graduated but not yet finished my Master's program, and the last May is one of the craziest months of the program. Needless to say, I had very little energy to plan much. I don't even remember what we did for his birthday...that part of the program is all a blur.
Fast forward to this year...I wanted to do something special for him since I haven't been able to do as much as I wanted before. Last Friday night, I surprised him and took him to Chapada, a newer steakhouse in town. It was pricey and perfect to celebrate his birthday! They come around with meat on skewers and shave it off for you...several types of steak, chicken, pork, even grilled pineapple! And you can have as much as you want! We were stuffed.

And then we got a birthday dessert...I only had two bites.

Afterward, we played mini golf and rode go karts. Sometimes it's nice to feel like a kid again :)

Saturday morning, I sent Grant skeet shooting. He knew that he was going with his dad and brother-in-law, but he didn't know that I had invited a couple of friends along, as well. He was surprised and so excited!

Despite the wind, they all said that they had a really good time! :)

When he got home, I had planned a family cook out at our house so that he could try out his new grill!

Grant and his Papa out on the patio grilling.

Beverly and I setting everything up in the kitchen.

Playing with Grant's party balloons!

I made sure to have his Papa bring over his favorite ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.

Sunday, his actual birthday, I gave him my gifts. His "big" gift was a Shutterfly book of New Zealand that I had made for him. I did the create your own formatting, so it took a long time, but it turned out just how I wanted! I even used our own pictures as the background for each page.

He really appreciated it and now we have a great way to remember our trip together!

It was so nice to be able to celebrate his birthday well. He felt like it was all about him all weekend, which is exactly what I hoped for.

Kitty said "happy birthday," too!

Love, the George family

Flowers in the weeds

Yesterday was a rough day for many reasons. This whole week has been hectic and crazy, but yesterday was just a nasty culmination of stress and attack.

Needless to say, when I saw that I had two more missed phone calls at 5:30 yesterday evening, I didn't even want to check my voicemail...but I'm glad I did!

This is what it was about:

A flower delivery!

Here's the story:

Grant ordered me flowers several days ago through one of the online flower delivery services. But they never got delivered and he thought the order had gotten cancelled for some reason. The way I see it, God knew that I would need something to lift my spitits yesterday so they got delayed a bit.

What a sweet blessing to help get me through a really hard day!

It was also a great reminder to spot the flowers hidden in the weeds that shoot up in life.

You eat one

This past weekend was quite eventful. We celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday, we went to pick strawberries at a local farm, we worked hard on our fence, and we celebrated Mother's day! Whew! May always seems to be a really busy month!

Our nephew likes to feed people food, especially his dad. I think he was enjoying the strawberries too much to share very many :)

Here are some fun pictures from our weekend adventures:

 One of our first fresh picked strawberries!

 The berries have been picked for about two weeks now, so we had to search for the good ones.

Mom and Dad seemed to enjoy hunting for berries.

 Gina and Mark were there, too :)

 Mmmm, that's tasty!

We finished the fence frame last week and got started on the fence boards. It felt great to continue making progress! We worked really hard on Saturday and then again this evening and we are finished! Hooray! Now, we just need to clean up our yard some more and eventually build a gate for the fence. One project at a time, though!

The finished fence frame. Our yard extends back quite a ways...the camera can't capture it all! It was a huge side yard to fence in!

I'll post a picture of the finished fence when I take one. We weren't finished until dark tonight, and I was too exhausted to even attempt a photo.

This weekend is Grant's birthday, so I'm sure we will have more to share soon!

Leaving a legacy

The frailty of human life became painfully evident to me on Saturday morning when I was checking facebook. I saw a Tulsa news story about a plane crash that had killed three people, leaving two in critical condition. I quickly found out that one had later passed away and that one was still alive. Then, I found out that I knew one person and had met one person during my time at ORU.

When someone dies, it is tragic.
When someone dies from a community of yours, it is painful.
When someone you know dies, it hits close to home. It brings to light the fleeting nature of our time on Earth.

Stephen Luth was someone that always brought a smile to my face. Three years younger than me, I knew him through friendships with his older brothers. I got to know him during high school and ran into him again during my years at ORU. His kindness and love for others were always evident to me, and from the responses I've seen on facebook from both the Muscatine community and ORU community, I am blown away by how many lives he's touched. It is clear that he loved the Lord and that the Lord used him to minister to others.

It seems the same for the other victims, Austin, Luke, and Garrett. Austin's heroism to help save Hannah's life is beautiful.

As I've grieved this terrible loss and prayed for the complete healing of Hannah's body, I've also been thinking about what this life means. I'm guessing that none of these young men knew they were going to die on Friday afternoon when they took off. I've imagined them talking and laughing, excited about the ministry ahead of them that weekend and in their lifetime. And none of that came to pass. They didn't call all of their loved ones for a final goodbye. They didn't resolve bank accounts, write a will, or complete a bucket list.

But they did leave a legacy. Of love. Care. Selflessness. Kindness. And I'm sure in hundreds of other ways.

Here's to Stephen, Austin, Luke, and Garrett. Here's to grief and healing. Here's to leaving a legacy.

I got to Kansas City on a friday...

Does anyone get that reference? Maybe it's just me, but I had that phrase of a certain song (there's a hint for you) stuck in my head last weekend as we made our way to Kansas City.

Grant found a great deal on our favorite hotel, the Chateau Avalon. It's a themed bed & breakfast we've stayed at the past two years for our anniversary. We've enjoyed the Buckingham and Serengeti suites previously; this time, he surprised me with our stay and chose the Roman Dynasty. It was a very cool room!

 To the left of the door is a separate room with a jacuzzi tub. Every room at the Chateau has one!

 Curtains pulled over for a secluded bedroom area. There was a mounted TV with surround sound in the bedroom. We were woken early by nearby construction so we ended up appreciating it.

Another view of the room that shows the LONG table. We were given complimentary sparking cider when we checked in. It's the small things that make the Chateau special! :)

They also have a referral program which includes "coupons" which entitle anyone we refer to a complimentary rose petal turndown and chocolate covered strawberries. And then we get a discount on our next stay! :) Just a little shameless plug!

Our stay was great, despite being awoken shortly after 6am by banging that ended up being nearby construction. We did a little shopping and playing at the Legends area and stopped by the Country Club Plaza to check out the recent addition of H&M and eat at the Cheesecake Factory.

Out last evening on the Plaza at the Cheesecake Factory! Yummy!

We've been hard at work on our fence this weekend. There have been several times that we've wondered why we didn't just hire it out...but then we remembered how much money we are saving and the sweet memories we are making. :) Haha! It's been fun to watch the progress and know that we put the work into it.

Bandit got a bath this week. We rarely bathe her, but she had gotten especially dirty one day. She typically fights us the entire time, but she held on to the side of the tub in defeat and actually cooperated! It was hilarious to watch. Poor tortured kitty...I think she secretly enjoys being clean.

Fun stuff happening around the George residence. I will be sure to post some pictures of the fence progress as we continue to work on it.

Love, the George family