Shoes, TV's and Puzzles...Oh My! (and more shoes)

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.

That's a verse - SO true - that runs through my brain as we sort every year. And sort. We got a lot of donations (thank you!!) earlier this year, and for some reason we just felt this might be an "off" year. And so began the running Heather-brain commentary: "You should be more specific in your donation requests"..."Everything's fine"...."Is this even worth it?"..."What does worth it mean? Why do you have to try and control everything?".

What does the Lord do with all that? He takes the body of Christ, our obedience to putting one foot in front of the other, good and bad weather, and prime barn-sale real estate and raises nearly $3000 to send to His work in Liberia, one 25-piece children's puzzle at a time.

 We all know that crunch time is here when Pam and her girls show up to fill all those empty table places, rearrange with fresh eyes, and price thousands of items. So thankful for them!

 Every time I look at a picture, I think of 10 other ways of setting things out. But when I'm doing it, I think - yes, this is right. It's a disease.

Umm...The Year of the Shoes is an understatement. I finally got the last tub out on the last day of the sale. I think we sold about 2/3 of all that we had, but that may be optimistic-hindsight-thinking. I also tried a new clothing arrangement for pants and shorts, but I'm not sold (ha!).

Not as many bikes as usual, but our outside items (not all pictured) went quickly!

Marriage Enrichment Counseling True Life Example from Barn Sale '13: the frosted shower curtain television. There's a lesson every year, folks. Will share our informative talk "How to Avoid Complete Marriage Meltdown" for the small-ish fee of feeding our children.

 Wish I could've remembered to take pics of all those who donated and helped! The Murphy's were new initiates to the Barn Sale this year, and fit right in. The Bayers and Allison Smith also came for the first time. Thanks to ALL!!

California Dreamin'

Eric and I were able to take a nearly-free trip to Ventura, CA in early April because of a business tour he attended. Woot! As is only proper after a trip, I am giving a report: Three Things I Learned About California

1) There are hills and mountains, and then there is the Pacific Ocean. There is waaaay less in between than I thought. At some points there is no in between.

2) Television meteorologists in mid-southern CA have to work really hard to come up with new ways to make 4-5 degree temperature variations sound interesting and important.

3) Even if your flight gets rerouted and delayed twice, and you end up getting to your beach-front hotel 12 hours later than originally scheduled, bone-tired and dehydrated, you are still in a beach-front hotel at 65 degrees in early April.

Pics!

View from our hotel

Our hotel

View from the pier in Ventura

 Looking back into Ventura from end of pier

My walk around downtown - beautiful

 Santa Barbara

Dutch town of Solvang in the mountains/wine country

"L"...is for the way you look at me

Did you know February is the month of lluuuuuv? No, not because of that holiday - which is just perfectly A-OK because we justify making heart-shaped cookies and heart-paper-chains and other things that cheer up this gray month - but because E and I first met in person on Feb. 18. I know, I know...call us sentimentalists...I don't care. It works out well for me because E hates store-created holidays like Valentines Day and Sweetest Day and Mothers Day and...you get the point. But by the time the hype hits it's peak on the 14th, and he sees heart-shaped cookies arrive in the kitchen, it triggers a memory switch in the engineer brain somewhere and he relishes completely ignoring that holiday and remembering our "18th" in some nice way.

Anyway. One of the kids was looking up quotations for an assignment today and I completely rabbit-trailed and found some great ones on husbands. I hate the trend of "jokingly" putting down men/husbands and how they are all made to look like buffoons on television. How, exactly, does being critical encourage them? Yeah, not so much. Let's treat them like we appreciate being treated - with respect always, with praise for all they do, and forgiveness that comes easy.

"Love is the thing that enables a woman to sing while she mops up the floor after her husband has walked across it in his barn boots."


"No, I don't understand my husband's theory of relativity, but I know my husband and I know he can be trusted."
-- Elsa Einstein

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person"