goodbye dolores

All week we had been praying for my grandmother, Dolores Crane, and God answered our prayers for comfort and peace by taking her home on Friday, October 24. I am so thankful she is no longer uncomfortable and in pain. I am confident she was ready to leave this earthly body, and is now in Heaven. I am thankful for all the prayers, cards, e-mails, etc. We will be traveling to Wisconsin on the 7th for her funeral, and we are looking forward to not only saying goodbye, but celebrating her life.

The worship retreat was so amazing. I had the privilege of leading alongside Kelly Minter (an amazing speaker, singer/songwriter, author, and currently our worship leader.) She has definitely become an inspiration to me, as I've had the opportunity to get to know her better. I am finally reading her book, No Other Gods. I highly recommend it to everyone out there. It's available on Amazon for 11.19! It's something we all struggle with and a message I believe we all need to hear.

new friends

It's so crazy what a small world we really do live in. I used to have reservations about the whole six degrees of separation theory, but I'm beginning to believe it's not far from true. I have been so blessed to have been meeting new friends lately...in the oddest ways. I've never been much of a "friends with everyone" person-mostly as a result of my own insecurities growing up...but I think God has changed me for the better because I'm finding that the more I accept myself, or rather, who He created me to be, the more people I find coming into my life that have shared those same feelings. I found myself saying the other day, what a great season this has been. Not necessarily this "season" but you know, of life. It becomes more evident everyday that God has led us to this place for a purpose. Though we don't know the full scope of it yet, I have been so thankful to have had such peace over the past year. I always looked forward to leaving Nebraska, but never expected I would feel so fulfilled. At times, I find myself feeling guilty that it has been such an easy transition. This is not to say that I miss our family and friends any less, but that God has provided for us here. One lesson I feel i've learned lately is to trust in Him for guidance, taking it one step at a time, being prayerful of the future, but not rushing through the present. I feel as if the only way to do this is to continually be in service to God and reverence of all that has been so graciously bestowed upon us. This coming weekend, I have the privilege of leading worship at Rolling Hills annual women's retreat. I am so excited about it, and really praying that the Holy Spirit will move in and through the entire weekend's events. Please pray that this weekend goes smoothly, as well as for my paternal grandmother who is currently in intensive care at a hospital in Milwaukee...and for my dad who is trying to handle things from afar.

much love to all.

fall cleaning means picture time!

As I spent the better part of today deep cleaning the house, I realized I'd hardly taken any pictures since we moved in! Things have changed a lot around here, so it's time to document those changes with updated pictures! My latest renovation involved the powder-room downstairs. It's hard to see the color with the flash, but it's a pumpkin orange. I also made frames with ribbon, using some of our pictures from beijing, i printed them in sepia and hung them in a row. I just love DIY house projects!

bah, humbug

So, after a lengthy time off from writing on my blog, I've finally been motivated to write again. Sometimes I just don't feel that I have anything all that important to blog about....

Some of you know, some may not, that I have been struggling with fatigue for the past 8 months or so. Our lengthy trip prohibited me from seeing a doctor again until now. Back in February, my physician indicated that I may have Hypothyroidim...a condition in which the thyroid does not get enough hormone from the pituitary glannd. It can cause a host of symptoms, not limited to FATIGUE (which is my main problem), weight gain, dry skin, etc. The only major symptom i've had so far is fatigue but I knew I needed to go back in for more testing. So other than feeling like a not so 20-something crazy person, I have just been down about not having normal energy. The blood tests came back and I guess they didn't show enough of a deficit to begin any thyroid treatment. Wow.
I really can't understand how the tests wouldn't show anything. I was positive they would. Most of the time, I feel like a zombie, I'm so tired...but nothing? What is the cause of this? My doctor recommended I see a sleep specialist. How am I going to be able to sleep in a lab (crappy hotel type room with monitors hooked up to me) and have them get any useful information? The other VERY odd thing to me is that I think you would know if you didn't sleep well (getting up every few hours, etc.) but I don't know of anything that disturbs me other than the fact that I am tired when I wake up- I don't mean tired as in, ohh I could sleep a little longer- I mean tired as in I feel like I ran a marathon yesterday. It's just SO frustrating. I truly feel like an 80 year old woman in the body of a 27 year old. I sleep 8 hours a night, eat relatively healthy (gluten free), take a daily prenatal and calcium vitamin, and walk regularly. And I'm tired of people telling me things such as: you sleep too much, you need a routine, you don't have a good schedule, etc. etc. Those things don't help. I'm not saying you have to understand where i'm coming from, but AT LEAST be understanding. It's not as if I want to feel this way. I just don't know what else to do.

So in the meantime, i'm going to try my best to deal with this fatigue and work through it....I don't think it's gonna be easy, but I know there are people out there that can relate. I just need to find them....

pictures are up!

Here is the address for pictures from our trip to Hawaii and China. It only took 10 hours to load them all to flickr.

www.flickr.com/photos/lawsonscreek

p.s. remember Dawson's Creek (I LOVED that show) This is where the inspiration came from.

things i need to do, but haven't

So, it's been just under 2 weeks since we returned from our AWESOMELY huge trip and the laundry list of things that need to be done keeps growing. You know that overwhelming feeling, when you realize that you are so far behind in things you said you were going to get to (but didn't)....yeah, i've got that. The yard is a disaster. The weeds are a mile high. A sunflower grew under my bird feeder (a GI-normous one!) The dog made confetti out of a tennis ball, which has now found its way to various parts of the house, as well as a roll of toilet paper. The pantry has been stuffed and re-stuffed with groceries, and the stale food is just in the back now.....grrr....the front door needs to be repainted, the railings need rust-o-leum.....the deck could use a wash, the garage as well.....

So, hmm, so far today I've been to target. Not very productive for a day off, but that seems to be a trend here.

We do have some fun things planned for Labor Day weekend though :) Tonight, Ashely and Billy are having people over....tomorrow is the farmer's market...Nate and Audrey are having people over on Sunday night, and last night was the worship team party, complete with a bow and arrow course (in the middle of Green Hills, mind you). What gathering is complete without great Mexican food and a bow and arrow?

for packer fans everywhere....

ohh, the jet lag

Well, we've been home 5 days now, and the jet lag is still kicking us. Going to bed around 8 PM each night, getting up at 4:30 or 5....it's just so strange. I've never experienced anything like this. It's one thing going to Europe and being 7 or 8 hours ahead, but 13 hours? It's like someone sucker punched you and there's no getting around it. I think we're adjusting about an hour each day or so.

Seeing the Olympics on television is making me want to be back in Beijing. I have to say that this was unequivocally the most amazing trip I have ever or will ever take in my life. As much as I loved Asia before, this just solidified the fact that I am in awe of China, Beijing, the people, the culture, the language, EVERYTHING. It truly is a beautiful country (and I'm not just talking about the cleaning up they did for the Olympics.) It is an incredible city. The people are extraordinary. They love foreigners. It was a great opportunity to practice the little bit of mandarin I've picked up from Pimsleur mp3's. I'm now convinced that this is one language I hope to learn more of. There's a school here that offers adult classes, so I think C and I are going to enroll in them together.

The first few days back were surreal. I didn't want to be home, as much as I like home, I wanted to stay in Beijing a little longer, learn a little more, see a little more. It wasn't a normal vacation...it felt different, like we were part of something (even just seeing a few events) it felt like we were part of something bigger. Knowing how monumental this was for China and experiencing their joy as the Opening Ceremonies got underway....they were so proud, and we were proud for them. I didn't want it to end.
But alas, here I am, back home, back to life as it was, and I can't help but feel like part of me has changed. I don't know what it is, exactly, but I am going to continue exploring it.

For now, I need to finish writing my brief synopsis of each day, so I don't forget it all!

Beijing is AMAZING

I can't even being to describe how amazing it has been to experience the Olympics in Beijing. Wow! I so wish I had been journaling, so I'm going to attempt to get all of my thoughts on each day down in this post, so I have something to look back on while I am scrapbooking this three week journey.

Day 1- Monday August 4th
We left Honolulu for Tokyo on Sunday, August 3rd, at 8:30 in the morning. After a 9 hour plane ride, we landed safely in Tokyo, at 4 PM Monday afternoon. CRAZY TIME CHANGE! The Tokyo airport is probably one of the nicest, cleanest airports I've ever seen! We had fun being in Japan for 3 hours, we even took a picture to prove we were there. Saw some USA athletes on our plane to China. We landed in Beijing at 8 PM Monday evening, where Andrew, Nicole, and Asher picked us up. Our luggage came out quickly, we went through customs pretty quickly, and then took the train back to their apartment (which stops just a block away!) It was a very smooth travel day, with no delays, thankfully!

Day 2-Tuesday August 5th
We got up pretty early (our bodies were so messed up from the 13 hour time change) but Nicole took us to the Llama Temple, a huge Buddhist temple. It was cool, but sad seeing everyone bowing to the idols everywhere. We also ate at a little cafe called "Vineyard Cafe" which serves western food. I had a Ceasar Salad and fries, Chris had pizza. We also stopped at a cool jewelry shop and walked around the city a bit.

Day 3- Wednesday August 6th
Chris and I tried to get into the Temple of Heaven but it was closed due to the Olympic torch coming through, which we never saw, but we talked with lots of local people and had fun bargaining at the Pearl Market. We were out in the city for several hours....we made it back for Tacos at Andrew and Nicole's with their friends "family" Gabe and Helen. We also took some seriously cute pictures of Asher in a chinese headband holding the Olympic flag...SO CUTE!

Day 4- Thursday August 7
Chris and I visited the Summer Palace, and had LOTS of fun shopping for cool Chinese stuff! Andrew and Chris again tried (to no avail) to find the Olympic Torch, amidst a sea of Chinese. I was SO tired, I took a nap, but we all went out for Korean BBQ, which was really fun because you cook the meat and veggies on a pan at the table. Andrew and Chris went out to a concert with Gabe that night, and Nicole and I went home to watch a movie, and chill.

Day 5- Friday August 8th (OPENING CEREMONIES)
Sleeping in is fun. I can't remember what we did this day....and it's getting super late, so I'm going to add to this in the morning :)

beautiful kauai

Our second full day on the island has been amazing...although the roosters keep me awake at night! We went on an ATV tour today and saw the beautiful countryside/mountain range. We met some fun people and swam in a waterfall, saw wild piglets, and got SUPER dirty from the red dirt! It was a great time. Chris drove, so I was able to really take in the view! We saw the mountain from Jurassic Park, and the rope swing used in Raiders of the Lost Ark. I just can't get over how amazing the ocean view is from the lanai.....incredible! I love when the water crashes over the rockes, spilling onto the road. The forbidden island "Ni'Ihau" (prounounced knee-ee-how) is just 14 miles off shore. They have no electricity and the kids take a boat to Kauai where they go to school each day. Amazing how primitive it is, as visitors are NOT allowed unless invited. I just love the history of the islands, learning about the native plants and animals, except, of course the chickens! Aloha!