Blog Failure?

January 21 to July 16. 

Half a year. 

I didn't get on here to write about the big things.... buying a house, moving to a new country, having a baby, leading lots of people to the Lord.... 

Oh wait- those things didn't happen! Maybe that's why I didn't get on here to write. 

From January until July- 

I went to work every day- interpreted elementary school for two precious students. I jumped rope with little girls, praised artwork, had Gospel conversations with two first graders time and time again, got to know co workers, co-wrote and co-directed a play/musical, taught hearing kids how to better communicate and understand deaf culture.... 

nope- nothing big enough to blog about there. 

Cody and I lived six more months of marriage- praising the Lord for growing us in praying together, and also going through more weeks and months of struggling to pray and study the Word together. We went for walks, wrestled with our Piper, planted a square foot garden, laughed a lot, cooked meals, worshiped with our Immanuel family, read books.... We spent countless hours with our best-friend-couple... eating meals, playing games, watching movies, doing life. 

I got licensed to teach Zumba! 

I learned how to do bookbinding and have made four handmade journals from scratch. 

I took my National Interpreters Certification Performance exam in March- STILL going crazy as I wait awaiting results patiently.... 

Over the past six months we went to concerts performed by friends, watched friends graduate college, visited with friends from Colorado, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Grenada, Indiana, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and more I'm sure, celebrated family's birthdays, welcomed home church families who adopted kids, praised the Lord with joy over pregnancies of friends, labored in prayer for the salvation of family members....

I traveled to North Carolina to visit my sister and have a mini road trip with Celia. 

Cody and I traveled with Celia and Felix to New York City and spent a wonderful week walking, seeing, eating, and walking some more, soaking in as much of the city as we could hold.

All in all- six months of little things, of day in and day out things. Month after month of things that I don't feel like I should blog about- that no one really cares about. 

But this is life. These little things DO add up- 

A Gospel conversation with a neighbor is important- because God's Word accomplishes the purpose for which He sent it. 

A game night with friends is a memory I'll always have and cherish. 

Laying the hammock with my husband after work is now part of who I am...

And so- yeah, nothing "big enough to blog about" happened the past six months- but thousands of little moments did indeed happen, and each one plays a part in who I am now; in what my life is, was, and will be. 

Sorry I didn't blog about any of it- but then, isn't that the kind of life I want to live? The kind that is so full of little, day in and day out goodness that I can't put my finger on any one topic to blog about- but instead just go on living in the joy of it all? I'll take that :)

"Brown paper packages tied up with string..."

List making, reflecting, goal setting, journaling, and letters.

These are just some of my favorite things.

And this is a bit of what I've been up to the past few weeks.

At Christmas, I got a gift in a really pretty blue and brown box- the box was almost just as lovely as the gift. I brought it home and tried to think what good purpose I could use the box for. Well- at the same time, I was doing some cleaning of piles in closets that never gets dealt with. I came across multiple shoe boxes of cards and letters- from birthdays, Christmases, dozens of notes from my mom, letters from my grandmas when I went off to college, and special encouraging notes from dear friends. What to do with them all?
Ah hah! The beautiful blue and brown box!





I got some cream and brown cotton crochet thread from the craft room and started the glorious task of re-reading all these notes and cards and bundling them into stacks, with cute little tags tied on to label them. Oh, it was so fun! It made me realize the importance my words can have- if the sweet words of a girl from youth group sent to me in a card when I first moved away from home to college STILL bring a smile to my face 7 years later, I really should be more intentional with writing encouragement to others.



I also got a nice little spiral bound journal in my stocking at Christmas. Now, I have journals and notebooks going for everything: Prayer list notebook, prayers written out journal, regular life journal, various trip and travel journals, marriage notes and ideas journal, church serman notebook, interpreting experiences journal, Christmas gift ideas notebook, and a plain old notebook just to make lists in. So, what should this one be for?


Ah hah! A new idea! I need a "books I have read" book!
I started making a list of all the books I read as I finished them about a year and a half ago (in my normal list-making notebook, of course). So I copied that list into this new book, and then started 2012 with a page devoted to each book as I finish it. I put the title and author, give it my own star rating (from 1 star "didn't hold my interest at all" to 4 stars "I'll give it away as gifts and probably read it again in my lifetime") and write a one page review of it. So far, I've finished 4 books in 3 weeks and have had a ball writing about them!



Lastly, Cody and I have been busy working on our Year End Review and Goal Setting. We still aren't done with it- it takes a while, but it is fun and has been a blessing. I came up with 11 categories - anything from Life Highlights, Finances, Challenges, Mission, to Hobbies/Fun, and Time Management and more- and together we reflect on the past year in that category and make goals for the new year. I love the thought of having these written out for each year of our marriage to be able to look back on in 50 years and see what goals we set in 2012 and what our greatest struggle was in 2026 and what life highlights stood out in 2034.

2011- A Multitude of God's Blessings

I know its already almost a month into the New Year- but I just wanted to publicly praise the Lord for His grace in our lives in 2011. Some things, like death, aren't necessarily things I'd label as "thankful for" but they display His grace and mercy in our lives.
(the following is a condensed list that Cody and I came up with in our Year End Reflection)

• Cody passed Greek with an A! and did just as well in all other classes (He says God's grace was most displayed in that Greek grade though!)
  
• The Lord provided Ashley with a new job- a HUGE blessing in so many ways!
  
• Cody's Great Grandma goes to be with the Lord- March 27, 2011
• Our dear friends, the Viola's, were blessed with their first son- our first "nephew".
  
• We were able to travel to London, England for a week- a wonderful trip, and the blessing of Cody and David getting to meet!
• Celebrated our 2 year anniversary! Praise Him!
  
• Traveled to Wisconsin to visit Cody's family, Asheville to visit Bethany, Indianapolis with friends, to Illinois several times, to Cincinnati--- love being able to spend time with people we love!
  
• the Lord protected Ashley when hitting a deer, and also provided the money to buy a good used car.
  
• We got to celebrate with my dear one- Alyssa, on her and Josh's wedding day!
  
• The Lord grew us through His Word, blessing us through the preaching of it at IBC, and the study of it in our home- Praise Him!
  
• We were able to visit Kathleen in Colorado- SUCH an answered prayer!
  
• He was so good to us to give us new friendship with the Borges- Thankful for countless hours of encouragement and laughs with them already.
  
• His goodness gave opportunities to share the Gospel in 2011- yearning for more in 2012!
  

And the list could go on and on- (our own personal list does, in fact!)

2011 was a wonderful year for us- we can't wait to see what 2012 brings from the hand of the Lord, for His glory!

Christmas and New Years

Happy New Year, All!! I hope everyone had a blessed and safe Christmas and New Year's Day. Here are a few pics from our festivities.


This was the dinner I made for Cody and I on "our" Christmas Eve which was really Dec 23. See the beautiful flowers in the background? They were sent from David, my "granddad" in England.

I LOVE this pic. This is at our home church on Christmas Eve. This is a pic that I forced to make happen :) of "youth" from our past at church. Its sort of an eclectic group because there are some friends older than Cody and I who were sort of on their way out when I joined youth. And then there are some friends here that are 4, 5, all the way up to like 8 years younger than us. And, this includes a wife and baby, grafted in to our "youth group" conglomeration. Gosh, when I look at this and see some of these girls all grown up- the ones that my friends and I thought of as "The Middle School Girls" when we were seniors- and now they are almost done with college- where did time go?!

Me, Mom, Grandma Pat, and Bethany before our meal. Mom made a wonderful Christmas dinner! It's usually at Grandma Pat's house but this year was different.

Piper guarding his stocking stuffers- between my parents, sister and Cody's grandparents, we won't have to buy him treats for like a year.

Attempting a photo with the Piper and Grandma Vi. They like each other a lot. :)

We got Piper a bed for Christmas. Its really an enormous, furry pillow. But I'm glad he loves it. This was after we came back into town, the next morning. He slept till 1 in the afternoon. I guess that bed must be something!


Sadly, this is really a very poor representation of our New Year's Eve but its all I got. All in all, we had sushi for the first time at a real Japanese Sushi bar (YUM!), then went to see Mission Impossible, then came to this- cheese and chocolate fondue (separately)! and games and fun until the wee hours with these people:

A little blurry, I know- but best we could do with that hold-your-arm-out-and-try-to-get-all-4-people-in sort of shot. Happy 2012!!!

December Life Summary

Ok- for the three friends out there that have now stopped checking this blog because I haven't written in a month, sorry! I've been busy doing life! But now I want to cram my last month of life into a blog post with potentially a lot of pictures. So here goes!

November 30- celebrated my 25th birthday! Can't believe I'm 25-holy moly! I was blessed with an awesome day- I got about 30 handmade cards from kids at school with really sweet things written in them, and some beautiful, heartfelt cards from close friends. Sweet husband got me really nice silver earrings, and a few friends came over for brownies and ice cream. What a great day!

Lovely ladies came to celebrate the big two-five. Husbands there too- sorry guys, didn't take a picture of you!

Dec 2- Light Up LaGrange-the choir kids that I help Celia with performed at this outdoor small-town Christmas festival. It was good times- they did great! I wish I could put a pic up of that, but I can't. I walked around with Celia's family who were in town for the occasion, and completed the night with homemade soup and hours of games, that may or may not have included one called "murder in the dark" until 2 am :)

Dec 4- My mom came into town for my 2nd annual Christmas Tea! It was super fun! This year I tried making scones and clotted cream- not as good as England but not bad. It was a blessed time with some of the very best friends a girl could ever ask for. Our time together went by too fast but we sang a few songs and were even treated with a drop in celloist :) The few who stuck around till the end even got to visit with none other than our lovely Emily Vacek!

Oh my, seriously, LOVE these girls! So glad mom got to be here to celebrate too!

Dec 5- Mom came to zumba with me!

Dec 6- our choir kids do 2 performances- one during the day time for the school and one a night for parents. Mom and Cody come to watch. The kids did great! I have really cute pictures of them signing a song (tear-jerker!) and playing recorders and xylophones, but can't post them to the blog, bummer. Whew- glad that is over though- a big weight lifted off my shoulders now that the performaces are done!

Dec 7- Go to a beautiful orchestra and choir concert to hear Felix play cello for a church. They sounded amazing. It really helped get me in the Christmas spirit! Finished up the evening with BoomBozz, my first taste ever! It was delish pizza!

Dec 8- Zappos! Found cute boots on a great sale! yippee!

Dec 13- Christmas party afterschool for teachers and staff. Fun white elephant gift exchange.

Dec 15- Violas in town for a short visit- I get to catch up on life briefly with Jessi and Tim and hold my precious "nephew"!

Dec 16- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL praise the Lord! A fun but exhausting day with an assembly in the gym (by candelight), and Christmas parties in the afternoon.

Dec 17-18 ROAD TRIP with the Borgeses! Short little trip to Indy. We stayed in the Union Station Crowne Plaza Hotel which we got on Priceline for a great price. It was a fun hotel with old trains in it- though we were lame and didn't take any pictures on the trains. We went to the Indianapolis Children's choir concert- don't diss, they are really good. We celebrated Celia's bday by playing Nertz into the night. Fun Fun!!

For lunch on the way there we stopped in Columbus, IN (violas were out of town :( ) and ate at a cute little ice cream parlor.

Look closely at her food- I had a 2 and a 7 candles stowed in my purse the whole weekend to be used on her B-day. Yayee for blowing out candles on a sandwich, hehehe!

Dec 19- Christmas shopping- 13 stores in one day!

Dec 20- Dinner and visiting with Sarah H!

Dec 21- Buy a new car- traded in my first car. celebrate new car with Pie and Ice Cream Kitchen Date. Give Piper bath- consequently, mop bathroom. Stay up till 1 am working on homemade Christmas gifts (see following post)

Goodbye, Sunfire! You have been so good to me!

Dec 22- Spend the day with the Borgeses in Cinci- IKEA and Jungle Jims (Never been there? You should go!). Dinner at her parents', played games, laughed really hard. They got us a game for Christmas called Quelf- its pretty hilarious!

Husbands laughing hard during Quelf. Watch out with this game, you may end up doing pretty embarrassing things!


OK - whew- so you probably didn't care a lick about all that. And in between it all, fill in cooking, groceries, cleaning, working every day, Cody's final exams (all A's!), reading the Word, going to church, doing life and marriage, zumba, and more.

My December has been immensely blessed. And celebrating our Savior's birth is still yet to come!!

Rocky Mountain High!

The week of Thanksgiving, Cody and I had the great blessing of visiting a dear friend in Colorado. I have been anxiously waiting 2 1/2 years to see her and oh, was it a joy! The 5 days were spent catching up on life, talking, looking at pictures, cooking, relaxing, eating and eating lots of great food, getting to know her great family, playing with a puppy, and a bit of sightseeing around Colorado Springs. I Praise the LORD for this friendship. Let me just recount it:
We met in the summer of 2008 and worked a camp together for 2 months.
Didn't see her for 10 months, then a few days visiting her in Colorado.
Then she came to Illinois to be in my wedding.
Then she was overseas for 2 years.
5 days at her house this Thanksgiving.
Years of encouragement from her and ever-strengthened friendship!

It is SO good and an exceedingly precious thing to have a friendship with someone that extends far beyond the time that you get to hang out together, the time spent doing things. Our friendship is sisterhood in Christ Jesus- and I am ever grateful for putting us on that Fuge staff 3 years ago and for binding our hearts in Him.

Now, a few pics from the trip!







She showed me the correct way to eat the delicious Indian food she cooked for us! Yum!

A Few Weeks of Life

Wow- I can't believe October is already over and we're on to a very rainy start of November. I feel like I haven't had anything to write about, though I've been busy and blessed.

Since Fall Break my life has basically consisted of work for the majority of my day, with a bit of Seminary Wives class, Zumba, house work, walks with Piper, laughter with husband, and church to fill in the rest. Work has been crazy this week with Halloween parties on Monday, a field trip with Kindergarten and First graders to a pumpkin patch on Tuesday, early release day on Wednesday. Love those Punkins' but I do come home tired!

Last weekend Cody and I were blessed to have a few married couples over to share dinner, worship and games together. It was great fun! I didn't get hardly any pictures, but here are a few:



Yayee- look at my favorite, super cute newly-weds! With my favorite new-friends couple on one side and half of my favorite new-parents couple on the other :)

Cody with sweet Eli Viola, glowing from the fire!

Piper was a party animal! HA! He and Tim are close buddies.

Then, on Halloween night, Cody and I went to U of L School of Music's concert, which is always a fun time. They different sections of the orchestra dress up and perform skits as they come on the stage. Cody and I sat with Celia and her mom, and Celia's husband Felix played Cello in the concert. The music was great and the skits were pretty entertaining too!

Now- Halloween is over, and Thanksgiving it right around the corner!

Fall Break in Pictures

Praise the Lord for a school district that sees fit to give us a week off in October! I thoroughly enjoyed each day, filling in the big happenings of each day with skype dates with friends, writing letters, taking Piper for walks, laundry, cooking, and journaling.

A few pics from the week:


Mom, Bethany and I searching "for color" in the trees as we drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway. "Color" was the word of the day. I sat in the back seat and counted while Bethany and Mom said the word "color" 32 times in one day.

Mom and I did a spontaneous stop on our way home at Cumberland Falls. Neither of us had been there before- It is beautiful!

We had the blessing of getting to go to a U of L Football game with Celia and Felix last night. All of us had free tickets given to us by various people, which was great :) It was perfect football weather, a little nippy but not too bad. I cheered for the Band and learned lots of Portuguese phrases. Sunergos coffee (chai for me!) and Mark's Feed Store made the night complete!

Also, yesterday during the day I got to visit my old school and see the students I worked with the past two years. Unfortunately, I can't put pics of them on my blog, but they are adorable. It brings great joy to my heart to share in some big hugs with these kidos, although each time I visit I have to answer the question, (all caps means signed) "MS. ASHLEY- WHY YOU GO DIFFERENT SCHOOL?" "YOU COME BACK MONDAY?" :( No, sweet friends, I won't be back monday, but I love visiting you whenever I get the chance!

Fall Break Summary

Well I know I haven't posted in forever. My goal was to post more over Fall Break but really I haven't posted at all and now my break is basically over! Longer post and pics to come later, for any friends reading this from far away, this is what the Gardners have been up to:

• I went to Asheville to visit my sister with my mom. We went to a Titanic Museum, went to Dixie Stampede, went shopping in Pigeon Forge, ate some awesome food, drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway, saw Footloose, and visited Bethany's school.
  
• On the way back to KY, mom and I stopped at Cumberland Falls- beautiful!
  
• Took mom to 32 degrees for the first time- she loved it!
  
• Spent a whole day emptying out closets and trying to organize them. Trying is the key word there.
  
• Visited my cousin who is due to have twins in the next few weeks. Had the joy of opening the Word with her and talking of the glorious Gospel!
  
• Cooked food and visited a coworker after a surgery
• Cooked my husband some meals
• Went to chapel, Spiritual Disciplines class, and Systematic Theology class with Cody. What a great privilege to hear from these professors for even one day! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a glimpse into my husband's day.
  
• Visited with my friends from South Korea.
  
• Seminary Wives Institute class- a Thursday night norm
• organized random other places around the house
• lots of nights of goofing off and being silly with husband. Seriously- we've been in a silly mood lately, I guess something about not working ever day does that to me?
  
• This weekend- U of L Game, Woman's fellowship at church, and church on Sunday! Can't wait!
  

A family whirlwind weekend!

Echo and Jake loving on Piper

Cody and I went to Illinois last weekend and had an awesome time! We got to visit a lot of family, a lot more than are usually in Illinois when we go home.

We drove Friday right after work. We got stuck in the bridge detour/rush hour traffic which was a bummer, and added time onto our drive, but it was okay.
When we finally got there, we went straight to Carterville (Cody's hometown and where his grandparents, Nani and Pop, still live). Staying at Nani and Pop's house for several weeks were Cody's Mom, brother, sister, Aunt, and 6 cousins. So, in this house (with one bathroom, mind you) were 4 adults and 8 kids! What fun! I love walking into this! Hugs and kisses abound- scampering feet running to greet us, kids being picked up and squeezed and Piper was running around it all, having never been around so much excitement before!

After hanging out some there Friday night, we went back to my parents' house in Johnston City, my hometown. We ate Mom's delicious Apple Cake and headed to bed.
Saturday morning, my mom made us one of her famous, awesome meals. That morning it was super good french toast and sausage-apple balls. My grandma Pat came to eat with us and we got to visit with her for a few hours.
Then we headed out to be with Cody's fam for the day. (note, his mom, siblings, aunt and cousins live in northern Wisconsin and we only see them about twice a year- so this weekend visit was extra special!) We played frisbee and other games and then had a taco lunch (big kids eat first, clean off the table, then little kids, then moms and grandparents! Three rounds around the table!) After ice cream cake to celebrate two birthdays, we went to Castle Park.

Cody with his brother exploring the Castle

Castle Park is this amazing wooden castle-playground that a man built in memory of his son. It is filled with swinging bridges and ladders, dark crawl-through-only tunnels and throne rooms, turrets and dungeons. Its really amazing and a favorite for this group of kids. They go to it a few times with each visit to Nani and Pops.

Echo and I in a tower at the Castle

So we went on this gorgeous Saturday afternoon- and so did everyone else in Southern Illinois! There were HUNDREDS of people there- birthday parties, the whole shebang. Usually, the park is empty, and the castle makes for a terrific game of hide and seek or tag, especially with 10 kids (counting me and Cody). But today we had to use the buddy system, one big kid to each of the little ones (Daniel-4, Jake-6, David-6, Echo-8). It wasn't nearly as fun being crammed in all these mysterious passageways with 15 other grimy kids. So we didn't stick around long.

Whole group picture at Castle Park

Saturday afternoon- brief shopping trip with my mom, I got dropped back off at Nani and Pop's. The afternoon consisted of homerun derby, frisbee, watching the little boys catch bugs, chatting with Cody's Mom and Aunt, and ended with spaghetti dinner, all the kids getting something from an ice cream truck (it was his lucky day!), and watching "Megamind".

Cody batting during "homerun derby" with cousins, Abraham and Gideon

Sunday= church, chicken and dumplings at Nani and Pop's for lunch, playing with kids, talking with cousins, reading with Echo (my sister-in-law), and getting enough hugs and kisses to last until the next wonderful time we see them all.

Jake and Daniel looking at their bugs

After leaving Carterville, we had another awesome meal by my momma and got on the road to Louisville. We stopped at my other grandma's nursing home on the way out of town, but she was already asleep. We woke her up to talk but she was so tired she couldn't keep her eyes open! It was good to see her anyway.

Drove back, listened to music, sang Christmas songs, Piper and I napped, and made it to Louisville at midnight. Cody and I counted- since last August, 2010, this makes our 18th trip out of Louisville! 18 trips, 14 months, some as close as Indianapolis, some as far at London, all wonderful memories!

D Now weekend

Well I've just got the lasagna in the oven and dishes washed up so I thought I'd write a quick life update. It is a BEAUTIFUL October day. The skies are that awesome shade of blue that I picked for my bridesmaid dresses. Can't picture the blue I'm talking about? Here's a visual...



There- now, the sky comes no where near to being as beautiful as my lovely maidens :) but the color is the same.
On with my post... The sky is gorgeous, I came home from work to a husband refreshed from his Fall break and mowing the yard. I got to lay in our own little backyard sanctuary and read in our hammock for a few chapters. After a game of fetch with a Piper whose new trick is dropping the ball on command (finally!), and after dinner in the oven, I get to reflect a bit on the weekend.

This past weekend, Cody and I got the privilege of teaching the Word to a youth group in Greenfield, Indiana. The youth minister and pastor of the church (wife and husband) met Cody at Union Fuge in 2010. They contacted us a while back and invited us to do this weekend with them.
It was GREAT to get to teach the Word again. If anyone knows me, they know that I love teaching the Word but don't practice that gift as much as I should. They provided materials for us, and with quite a bit of added topics, Scripture, and insight from the Lord I set out to teach as much as humanly possible in 5 short teaching sessions packed into one and a half busy days!

Now, let me tell you, I think I've forgotten what middle school girls are like :) They are delightful, for sure, but I hadn't reminded myself of two things, the immense amount of energy (even after midnight!) and that the main topic of discussion chosen would always be "boys!".

The main topic of MY choosing (and the youth minister's!) was holiness, studying from Daniel, and talking about how to be set apart from our culture for Christ. From there we talked about purity, modesty, salvation (of course!) through grace alone and not through works, sanctification (far too little on this topic, ran out of time), picking your close friends wisely, prayer, their time in the Word, ect. Looking back now, I know that I probably talked way too fast and would have been helpful to them had I typed up an outline of my notes, when I strayed from their book. But I trust in the promise of God that "His Word does not depart from His mouth void, but accomplished what He wills." (Isaiah 55)

The Lord also sustained me greatly through sickness during the weekend. I had just a bad cold with terrible congestion and throat gunk (sorry for that description) that impaired my speaking- the very thing I would be doing the most of! But His grace was sufficient and I pray that my sickness and terrible sounding voice didn't cause too much of a distraction.

The best part of the weekend I think was having a short one-on-one with each girl. Some girls didn't care for this time, I could tell. Like they had an image to uphold, they couldn't be "real" with me and wanted out of there as quick as possible. But others, I was able to see a quick glimpse into their heart and got the blessing of praying with each one of them. What a great opportunity!

Of course the weekend had "youth group brand fun" also- a video scavenger hunt and late night games of "murder in the dark" and talking about boys. Cody and I are too old for this kind of staying up late and after my sweet husband safely drove us home (while I slept) we both crashed at 6 pm!

Praise the Lord for a fun/tiring/great weekend of teaching and getting to know some fun teenagers!

September Saturday with my Sweetheart :)

Yesterday was a gorgeous Saturday. I woke to a crispness in the air, the kind that makes you pull the covers all the way up to your chin. I LOVE that feeling! We had stayed up late watching Gilmore Girls so I knew Cody would be sleepy still. I decided to make him breakfast in bed! It had been forever since this had happened- and I hadn't planned ahead, so I just made what I could. Cheesy scrambled eggs, English muffins with Nutella, and hot tea :) It was well received!

On to our morning- we went yard sale-ing around the neighborhood for about an hour or a bit more. For the most part we didn't find much (it was a special neighborhood yard sale weekend so we went to 15 probably) We did find a pretty great kitchen canister set, porcelain, a pretty green, for $2. We also got a brand-new looking electric juicer for $5! More on this at the end of the day.

Then was on to Seminary campus bookstore, lunch on Frankfort Avenue at a Greek place. We had lamb gyros! yum! Reminded me of eating them in Germany, where they call them Kebabs.
Next we walked about the Reseviore, which neither of us had done before. Its really nice and peaceful!

After a brief trip to the mall we raked leaves for 2+ hours. All of that from ONE tree in the front yard! Its a beautiful sycamore tree, but boy does it have a lot of leaves and loose them early!

Cody and Piper with the 7 bags of leaves. And yes, that is a snow shovel in his hand....

Then I ran to do a few errands while Cody grilled cheeseburgers. Yum!
We ended our wonderful Saturday together with another episode of Gilmore Girls and a drink from our juicer. I had read several websites on juicers and am excited to try veggie juices for health and nutrients. But we started our new juicer experience with something sweet- apple and plum juice. It was a hit! Very tasty!

Labor Day weekend in Illinois

Alright- I know- I'm backtracking. But I just uploaded pics from Labor Day weekend when we went home to visit and there were so many great pics I just had to post them.

The Gardner Family on our way to Illinois.

Cody and I with Jared, Jon, Josh, and Jessi Wharton and the newest Wharton, Michelle at Josh and Michelle's wedding reception! What a joy to be with all 4 Wharton kids at the same time- it had been ages!

At another wedding the same day, I got to see Nichole and Amanda- two of my closest friends from childhood/high school.

I had the privilege to read Scripture to my Grandma Vi ( on left) and her roommate, Neva.


Cody preached two times at our home church. Praise Him for the opportunity!

Mom, Dad, and I in a golf cart at Duquion state fair. Dad worked at the fair all week and we took him dinner one night.

A Beautiful Fall Weekend

So, last weekend was a great time for the Gardners in Louisville.

Friday was Fall Festival at Southern Seminary. This year it was Narnia themed! We entered Narnia through a wardrobe complete with fur coats and stepped out onto the quad to find the lamp post, Mr. Tumnus, Edmond, Peter, Lucy and Susan and the White Witch. There were beautiful tents with everything from Turkish Delight to Cotton Candy and Chic-fil-A (I'm sure they had that in Narnia, aren't you!?). There were dozens of inflatables for the kids. But the best part was hanging out with lots of great friends.
Enjoying cotton candy in Narnia! Thank SBTS!

Campus was filled to overflowing with students, families and kids. Its fun to see so many families from IBC there, and other friends too. There was a jousting and sword fighting display that was quite legit. I wish I would have taken more pictures!!

A group of BCM friends before the 5K

Saturday morning, Cody and I ran in our first 5K ever! I was a bit nervous because I really don't run, but I knew it was worth the try and the money went to missions. It couldn't have been a more beautiful day and I felt better running than i thought I would. I guess the adrenaline of it being a "race" pushed me on. Cody was a sweetheart and stayed with me the whole time. He sprinted the last hill to the finish line and then waited there for me so we could cross holding hands :)

My mom was in town for both of these events and it was great fun having her there. We stopped by an Art Show for a bit before lunch and then she headed back to Illinois.

At the Art Fair, a weaver asked if I'd like to try her loom. Would I! I have ALWAYS wanted to try weaving. She let me do the shuttle and peddles and everything!

That night we had youth group, then church on Sunday. After church, the Yuens introduced us to our first taste of Indian food at Kashmire. It was awesome! I then was blessed with long-prayed for face time with a dear friend who just returned from the mission field. It was SO good to talk to her- and that hour conversation had some laughter, some tears and lots of sharing of life. Sunday night, Cody and Piper and I got caught on a walk in a sudden downpour. We tumbled into the house totally soaked, all of us dripping wet and laughing.


What a great weekend of memories!

The Piper

16. I am SO thankful to the Lord that yesterday when I was playing frisbee with Piper in our backyard (which is riddled with holes he has dug) and when he jumped onto me playfully, and when I stepped backwards into the deepest and also most hidden hole of them all, that my ankle didn't snap in half or even twist. Praise the Lord because it could have easily been very bad, but wasn't at all!

speaking of my puppy, its time to introduce him to this blog. I'll add some pictures of the summer.


Aren't my two men so handsome!





Piper LOVES car rides! Isn't that speckled nose so cute!

A few more pictures of what Cody and I did this summer will come soon. And then I'm moving full strength into FALL!