Break is over.

So, I did really well with blogging about Alaska and then because I blogged so much for a week, I guess I was a little worn out. But, the break is over. These next few posts may be hard for me to crank out, but I'm committed.

The past couple of weeks have been busy, especially last week! We had our youth mission week, during which our teenagers did yardwork for people who needed it for several hours each day. Several of the teens showed up every day-- big kudos to them! Also, several adults were there each day, getting more and more sore-- big kudos to them, too! It was a great week; everyone that we helped out was very grateful and I honestly was impressed with how much work got done each day. Yards were transformed! I only took pictures on Monday (oops...) so here's just a few. I really wish I had taken some before-and-after pictures, because some of the yards you would not have recognized. Everyone worked so hard, and it was a lot of fun to be a part of.

I think my favorite part of the week (surprise, surprise) was building relationships; I spent a lot of my time with the same handful of students and adults. I guess between the hours I spent in the sun for mission week and my dentist visit on Monday (= stress) I ended up with 3 fever blisters on Thursday. Count them, 3. How disgusting! I have been trying all sorts of remedies... none really helping. All that to say, I made sure to avoid the camera this weekend.

I didn't have to work on Friday, which was nice considering I woke up around 8 with a headache. I took some advil and tried to sleep it off. I woke up at 11 feelings much better. Somewhere around 3 my sweet friend Katie and her husband Ryan showed up. I had plans this weekend to go to Nashville, but Ryan called me early last week and said he had planned a surprise trip to the beach for Katie. He wanted to "break up the drive" by staying with me on Friday and Wednesday; also, by doing so, Kate and I still get to see each other! What a thoughtful guy, eh? We all hung out most the afternoon and went to get burgers for dinner. After dinner, we had some serious Wii Fit competitions as well as a few not so friendly games of Bananagrams.

You would think after 22 years of winning and losing, I would have improved my attitude when I lose. Not so much. At least I kept the drama to a minimum after losing 10+ games of Banagrams to Ryan... "Hey, let's play Mario Kart. I know I can beat you at that." Ryan knocked my records off of several Wii Fit Balance Games, and not to be out-done, after they left on Saturday I spent the next hour and a half shattering them. :-) Can you sense the maturity here?

And yes, I did call them within two hours of their departure...

"Kate, guess what! You can tell your husband that his #1 ranking on soccer-heading has tanked down to 9th place!" As she relayed the message, I could hear Ryan in the back ground...

"Wednesday night, Chel... It's so on!"