Sheboygan = Dead Zone?

Starting to wonder if my phone doesn't work when making calls to Sheboygan County.... 4 people not returning my calls!

Beautiful Day!

It's April 24th - a Friday. In Wisconsin. And it's supposed to be over 80 degrees. All of that together means I would be crazy to not take vacation! I decided at about 3:30 on Weds that I'd be taking a day off, and I'm so glad I did!

I've already played some golf, met Nicole, did lunch with Matt, and am now soaking up some sun at the Union. Can't ask for much more.

"Why are you looking for love, Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?"

Spring has Sprung!

This little treasure can only mean one thing...
...the Farmer's Market is back! Today was the first Farmer's Market of the season, and you can bet I was there! This is one of my favorite things about being back in Madison. It was a beautiful spring day here today, which made the walk around the square wonderful! Hot, Spicy Cheese Bread from Stella's Bakery is a must anytime I'm there. Over a pound of hot, melty (and spicy) cheese in this baby - it's amazing!

I also found some pretty little pansies - some of the flowers are half purple and half orange. They made themselves right at home in a cute pot on my porch, right next to my fun new adirondack chair with brightly striped cushion (where I spent some time reading in the sun today).

All of it just screams Spring, and I love it!

A new attempt at Easter eggs

I know it's a few days late, but here's my attempt at naturally dying Easter eggs this year. Check out what blueberries, grape juice, coffee, turmeric (what you really use turmeric for, I'm not sure), and red cabbage can do!

Don't know that I'd really recommend trying it, it made the house smell kinda crazy, and wasn't all that successful, but it was fun once!

Missin' ya

Missin' my Sheboygan people tonight. Just feel like I could go for chips and salsa at Chili's (folks in Madison aren't nearly as enamoured with it as all of you are), or the incredibly fast service at El Camino, or just hanging out at Apache or 18th St or Heather Valley... you know who you are.

A New Command

I've definitely been living a life of busy-ness the past few months. I've kept myself occupied with anything and everything. Most of it good stuff, but "stuff", nonetheless. I've been very good at filling my time, but not necessarily so good and filling my heart.

Holy Week crept up on me this year.

A few weeks ago I posted about the 40 days of water challenge. (Yes, I did it, with just over $100 headed to the Blood:Water Mission. And for those of you who are curious, my first non-water drink on Friday was none other than Diet Coke!) The whole challenge kind of coincided with Lent, but that wasn't really what I was doing it for. I really wasn't in the mindset of anticipating the remembrance and celebration of what Christ did some 2,000 years ago. I've heard other people talk about what they "gave up for Lent," and went on to question their faith in my head, almost chastising them for their sacrifice, but wondering how much of the other 325 day of the year they surrender things to Him. They're ugly, ugly thoughts on my part. I haven't really cared where their heart was, or what pain they were carrying around, or what brought them joy. I've just belittled their way of celebrating the Easter season. And what's uglier to me, is that I've hardly been celebrating it in any way myself.

On Thursday of this past week, at about 3:00 in the afternoon, I realized that my church was having a Maundy Thursday service at 6:00. It hit me that day that Easter was just 4 days away. I did a little schedule juggling and was able to make it to the service. I remembered going to a Maundy Thursday service a time or two before at the church I grew up in, and walked in thinking, yeah, it's the day we remember the "Last Supper." But on Thursday, I learned of another whole part to that last meal that I hadn't put together before. That same night, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, (check out the end of this post for a cool story on that!) and later said to them "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John13:34-35.

Wow.

Love. That's it. That's how they'll know I love Him.

The word Maundy comes from the Latin translation for commandment. So really, this past Thursday we were to remember the new command that Jesus gave on the night before he died on the cross. Simply to love. Sound simple. But is really hard in practice. Lately, I've gotten so caught up in what's going on in my life, and with keeping myself busy, that I haven't loved anyone. Convicted - completely guilty.

Tonight, I remember what He did for me, dying on the cross, because He LOVES me.
Tomorrow, I'll celebrate how He conquered death for me, because He LOVES me.

My Worst vs. Your Best

"As women, we compare our worst to everybody else's best."

(I'm almost embarrassed to tell you who said this where, but I will, because she's completely right - Marie Osmond on Oprah.)

So true Marie, so true.

When are we going to start appreciating our "bests", rather than obsessing about our "worsts"?