Day 151 - Project 365

On our way home from MI we stopped at the Sunrise Window company in Temperance so D.A. could meet the gals he talks to on the phone all the time for work. They are all very sweet and appreciate my sweet, calm husband so much! Fun little side trip after a really wonderful weekend with family and friends!

Day 150 - Project 365

Day 149 - Project 365

Day 148 - Project 365

Day 147 - Project 365

Day 146 - Project 365

Great time with some great guys! Excited to see what the Lord has in store for them in the weeks ahead at Windy Gap!

Day 145 - Project 365

Dan stopped in on his way to his assignment at Windy Gap with three other guys who are going there with him. We met Joe at Lupi's for dinner and then walked around downtown a bit including The Passage. I haven't used my new camera outside in the evening very much at all and I'm really pleased with how this shot turned out!



Such a treat when we can be with each other! Tomorrow we leave for a long weekend in MI stopping in Indy on the way for some time with Mark & Tara and the adorables :-)

Day 144 - Project 365

She asked what it meant.....

Listen
It's a place where a confidence is shared
A safe place to voice the deep sadness
A space to talk about life and death
And the dance in between
Connecting the dots
Learning the elasticity of love
Walls lined with laughter
Great guffaws of silliness
A quiet spot with a comfy couch
Candlelight fresh flowers
mama's clock keeping time
And tissues
Loved objects within reach
Reading words out loud
Slow and savoring
Bringing praise and pleas
By the loveseat kneeling
Tea in old china cups
Morning coffee
Dreams, questions, possibilities
Doubts, theophanies, resolutions
A place to be still
To be
Listen and lean in close for
This is what I love
It is
a place to long for when you leave
And recreate wherever you are
Wherever you are

Day 143 - Project 365

Big day for sweet Corey today as he graduated from the 5th Grade with honors from East Lake Elementary! So proud of this young man and I can't wait to watch him continue his education - I hope I have a few more graduations of Corey's to attend in the years ahead! His family came out in full force to support and encourage him. He had the responsibility of leading the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance and he just beamed!

What a crowd of well-wishers for one fifth grade graduate!!

So thankful for our friendship!

Day 142 - Project 365

It's a Southern thing......

Day 141 - Project 365

It was a fun, full day including many possible pics of the day ( see below) but I choose the morning sun falling over our raisin toast. I just love the way the way it's hitting the plate of warm, yummy goodness!

Our friends Emily and Brian got married this afternoon - the banner on the wall sums it up pretty well! Doesn't Emily look radiant?


After the wedding we decided to take a walk downtown for a little exercise and Sweet CeCe's yogurt. When we walked past Rembrandts we spotted Nate on the patio :-)



Such a beautiful sunset going down behind the Delta Queen!



And then we came across this one man band! Soooo many possibilities to choose from but I will stick with the toast :-)

Day 140 - Project 365

After dinner we took a drive through the Ringgold and Apison areas that were hit so hard by the tornadoes on April 27th. I think I said "Wow!" a hundred times. Just unbelievable destruction and this is three weeks after the fact. I can't even imagine what it must have looked like right after it happened! We saw the sign above in Apison.


This is the McDonalds in Ringgold - several businesses on one exit were wiped out including a Ruby Tuesday we used to eat at - it's gone!

This is along Cherokee Valley Road in Ringgold close to Apison. This used to be a beautiful green mountainside and now it's stripped bare. It's going to be a long time before it's really pretty again. How sad to get up every morning to this "after" scene.

This is the first house Dale sided when we moved to Chattanooga - well, it's the site of the first house - completely wiped out!

You'd probably be able to get this house pretty cheap right now!

Day 139 - Project 365

I love coming down the Court at the end of a long day at work and being greeted by the bright colors of the "mailbox garden"! These little guys are a succulent and grow low to the ground. They love sunny, hot weather which we have alot of in TN!

Someone put this quote by John Calvin on FB this week and I love it!

"There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice."

Day 138 - Project 365

Such a beautiful morning on the river! I can't imagine living at a place like this and seeing this view every morning! This would be mine and D.A.'s dream - to live on the river :-) In the meantime, it sure feels good to be back home on the Court with my best friend.

Day 137 - Project 365

Just back from a staff planning retreat....I think this guy is looking for the rabbit that went down one of the many trails we blazed during our time together......gracious!

Happy 29th Birthday, Daniel Jon!

Hard to believe it's been 29 years since Baby Boy VanderWoude #2 entered the world! And I would never ever trade him for the Molly or Robin we thought he was going to be :-) He has kept us on our toes from Day One! What a gift to watch him grow through the years to become the man of God he is today! Happy Birthday, Daniel Jon - may you be blessed with many more!

Day 136 - Project 365

I love this painting by L. Lindsey! Such a cheerful spot in my little kitchen! And now coming to a blank bulkhead in the same room sometime soon....



Eucharisteo......This word,introduced to me by Ann Voskamp in "One Thousand Gifts" continues to impact my heart. This afternoon I met with a friend from New City who's an art major at Covenant College about painting this word on the bulkhead. I had him read aloud from Ann's book - the chapter where Eucharisteo is first mentioned - so he would have a better idea of what the word means. Do you want to hear a funny thing? When he saw the book he said "my mom just got that book in the mail today!" I'll take it as a sign.

Can't wait to have this special word in my kitchen! It will be a conversation starter for sure. And I think that Thanksgiving, Grace, and Joy are pretty amazing topics to talk about.

Day 135 - Project 365

Today the house rang with laughter and conversation and make-believe and it was wonderful! Corey & Corell and their cousins came for a good part of the day including church and lunch and we had so much fun. So thankful for these guys!

Love this pic!

The boys always rave about Mr. Dale's burgers and mid-dinner one of them suggested a toast to Mr. Dale and his burgers - which we did :-)

Sure seemed good to watch a puppet show given from behind the living room couch again - so fun to see what the kids come up with - the puppets usually wind up mauling each other :-)




It's on days like this that I'm reminded all over again why we left all we ever knew to move to Chattanooga with a passion and a prayer and I am grateful.

Day 134 - Project 365

We have been adopted!

Day 133 - Project 365

"Tiny Ghost" - an Asiatic Lily is the newest resident in the "mailbox garden" after a trip to Lowes. So pretty! What fun it's been in the past 9 years to go from having zero flowers in our yard to bunches! We realized tonight that we don't even have room for many annuals in that perennial garden which means we are really getting some mature plants blooming at different times throughout the growing season!

When we moved to Rocky Top we were so discouraged by the quality of soil here especially coming from fertile West Michigan where I tell folks we just drop seeds in the soil and they sprout like magic...... but we asked questions and we listened and we learned that the secret is to amend, amend, amend the soil. Tonight when I was digging I saw worms and that's a sure sign of progress!

I love that D.A. enjoys working with the flowers now too - we are good partners as we subdue the earth together - working in the cool evening air till the moon rises and the mosquitoes chase us back inside.

Day 132 - Project 365

These mums didn't get the memo they're not supposed to be blooming in MAY! Crazy early spring/ summer this year! Temps in the 90's this week really brought on the blooms! Back in the 70's this coming week so maybe the buds will put on the brakes and save a little color for July!

Day 131 - Project 365

And we're back.....the Blogger site was down for a few days - you could read but not write on your blog.....so I have a little catching up to do tonight....starting with Tuesday's serendipity of being picked up by D.A. after staff meeting to go up to beautiful Dunlap, TN to go out for lunch at The Cookie Jar Cafe, look at a job for his work, and stop for some fresh strawberries! At Maw's! You might be in the South if ......

The berries are really yummy! They're $2.00 a quart which is .50 cheaper than our local produce haven. We bought 8 quarts with the intention of making freezer jam but I'm not sure any will make it into a jar at the rate we're eating them! This is saying ALOT but they're comparable to Michigan berries in sweetness and delight!! Now the sweet corn Maw's had to offer....that's another story...but Michigan sweet corn is off the charts when it comes to delicious.

(A favorite Mom memory is when she arrived in the Atlanta airport with her carry-on bag full of Michigan blueberries and sweet corn - what a great mom!)

Bird feeders and houses for sale at Maw's - thinking Paw made them





Very fun date with D.A.!!

Day 130 - Project 365

Sweetest Mother's Day card from D.A. ever

Day 129 - Project 365

Long but good day....another YL Golf Tournament is in the books! An unexpected part of the day was finding this robin's nest in the corner of the back patio area at the golf course. So fun to watch mama bird care for her young - precious! A belated Mother's Day gift!

She didn't seem to mind the presence of people at all!


Alot of the time the babies would have their mouths wide open and waiting!

Some of the sweet leaders that helped today! We tried a new idea of having a simple pancake breakfast for golfers before the morning round and I think it went really well! Inexpensive and lots of fun interaction!


Such a beautiful golf course in Lookout Valley!