A Letter

Caleb,
I want to tell you my story. Parts of this I never planned on telling anyone, let alone you. But I am convicted that it is not my story to keep but rather my story to tell. As I write this, it pains me to go back and relive some of my most shameful days. However, I am overjoyed to tell you how my shame was replaced with hope and promise.

I was out of control doing whatever I wanted in high school. I lied, I stole, I cheated, I smoked, I drank, I tried drugs. My entire life I went to church and didn't even feel that guilty about the things I was doing. I wasn't convinced of a god. When I met your dad, I continued to do all those things. I got pregnant with you only 10 months after I met your dad. I was 18. He was 15. I was at my lowest point in my life. I kept my secret to myself for awhile before coming clean. During those lonely days, I was depressed and scared. At one point, I pulled out the phone book and looked up abortion clinics. As I was scanning the pages, I felt deep within me an unknown stirring. Something inside said "No, stop, close it, close the book, close it now. This isn't the way." For the first time in my life, I felt the gentle spirit of God. I know without a doubt it was God because my conscience, at that time, wouldn't have cared about the drastic, selfish actions I would have taken. I knew at that moment, I had a greater purpose in life. Even though God maybe had been calling me for 18 years, He knew that the only way I was going to hear him was with an extreme wake up call. I believe with everything in my heart, He gave you to me to save me from a very dangerous, destructive path.

After my first God encounter, I still wasn't perfect. Life wasn't instantly easy. I still didn't bear the makings of a Christian but I certainly did bear the life of shame and guilt. But as these months went on, I knew He was there, whereas before, I wasn't even certain of that much. Around this time, I had another encounter with God. I felt him pick me up from a seat in church and carry me to the altar. I confessed my behaviors and thoughts to Him alone. I didn't decide to go to the altar. He pulled me there. I took my guilt and shame and laid it at the altar. I felt new. I felt new because I was. I can't explain this feeling but I felt free from those chains that were enslaving me to a life of self loathing and destruction. I felt lighter because I didn't have to carry those burdens anymore. In the summer after you were born, I once again felt God prodding me in a church service where they were doing baptisms. I got up without thought and just went to be baptized. I am not a person who wants to be seen. I try to stay away from any kind of attention getting behaviors. Had I listened to my simple mind, I would have never gotten up from my seat that day. I would have reasoned myself right out of what I felt in my heart. It was God's spirit moving me that day. I felt awesome after that moment. In fact, after that I just wanted nothing more than to have that feeling of complete love and acceptance every single day. I never liked church but suddenly that's where I wanted to be. I carried a small Bible in my bag to college just to feel the secure sense of knowing Jesus was always with me. It helped me feel a little less alone in a very secular world, especially when I was entrenched in class after class of scientific thought. I struggle with telling you this because I don't want you to think that I never wanted you. Actually until today, I never thought I would tell you of that moment. In fact, I told your dad of my thoughts only a few years ago. I was in a dark place that day and my only answer is that Satan was trying to keep me on his path of evil. I feel he had his grip so firmly on me that I wasn't myself. My thoughts weren't my own but his. Only God could have pulled me out of that wicked place. It is through God's grace that I can tell you my story (really our story) without feeling shame.

My human nature is to feel embarrassed of the things I've done. I'm only human so I can't understand how our God can forgive me of my past decisions. The beauty is I don't have to understand it. I just know it to be true. I feel it everyday. I still make mistakes and I am far from perfect. There are a multitude of things I do that I know are sinful. I am often quick to speak unkind, mean thoughts. I am a poor example of a Christian when I do that. I don't pray enough (sometimes not at all). I'm not doing enough to teach my children about Jesus Christ. And this is what I am called to do as a mother. I feel like I cheat and lie to my boss when I go to work and am getting paid to work but I check Facebook instead. I worry when I know I'm supposed to just have faith. You see, I'm not perfect. When I do these things, I ask for forgiveness and I try and not do them anymore. But sometimes I slip up and do them again. Satan tries to lure us everyday to do what feels good in the moment. I've come to recognize when he creeps in. Those Sundays when I feel like sleeping in and I almost talk myself out of church always seem to be the Sundays with the sermons that I believe were written just for me. Satan tries to distract us and separate us from good. Satan tries to push us farther and farther from our Father. The devil is constantly interjecting his evil will on us. We have to guard our hearts from those things. As a mother, I am called to guard you and teach you. This is why I care what you watch, what you say, and what you hear. Satan has clever tactics to draw you in and I have experienced it and you will too. I want you to know what is right and want you to be strong enough to recognize that you need to pull yourself away from the sin the world has to offer. The way I teach you that is by showing you that the power of God is the only thing that is strong enough to see you through. It is easier to stay on track by not letting ourselves get too close to ungodly things. We are weak, sinful people but Jesus provides a power so great that we can stand firm knowing nothing can ever break us from Him. The life of a Christian isn't easy. There are days when I feel persecuted, ridiculed, mocked, and judged. This is when my sinful nature gets the best of me and I think and do things that I shouldn't. I have to realign myself in these times by reading the Bible and praying. I'm not capable of forgiving those who hurt me on my own but Jesus Christ gives me strength to forgive. In the same breath, He forgives me of the thoughts I have when I'm hurt. I know God is real. It took a drastic life changing moment for me to hear Him calling but it doesn't have to always be that way. He is an all knowing, omniscient God. We are not designed to understand His ways. We are designed with a need to love and be unconditionally loved. And He provides this to us. Believers have faith that He holds us in His hand not because we see a physical hand but because we feel His hand wrapped around us. He knows we question Him. He understands us and loves anyway. He knows the darkest recesses of our souls and loves us anyway. Before we decide to walk with Him, I don't think we should feel ashamed of questioning His very existence. He designed us to be inquisitive. He gave us the free will to believe in Him or not. But I think He is always there to believers and non, calling out and making himself known in even the most subtle ways. It is our choice whether or not to faithfully follow.

When I stop and think about it, I feel Him and hear Him all throughout the day. I feel His spirit in songs. I hear Him in the quietness of a room. I feel Him when my heart stings from missing my earthly father. I feel Him when I wander the outdoors. I feel Him in the warmth of the sun. I hear Him when I feel alone and outnumbered. I see His amazing handiwork in my children. Ask Him sometime, you will feel Him too. He will reveal Himself to you in the most unique ways that might make sense only to you. That's how well he knows us. He loves us regardless of our flaws and He will forever try to capture your heart. He knows that once He does, you will feel peace and love and grace like you never have before. I love you so much it makes my heart hurt. And He loves us even more than that. I can't even fathom it. But I can feel it and I hope and pray that someday you will feel it too.
Love,
Mom

A Confession

I'm an addict. For the longest time, I fooled myself into thinking differently. Even when I finally admitted it to myself, I still tried to hide it from my family and friends. After a week long bender, I snapped out of the haze long enough to see laundry piling high, dishes growing their own science experiments, and my kids TPing the inside of the house. I hadn't showered in days, maybe weeks. I needed help. I was a pinaholic.

It started innocently enough last spring. I was introduced to Pinterest.I thought I would just check it out for a few minutes and be done. But, the first time I visited the website I was instantly hooked. Before I knew it, I was sucked into this virtual world that would eventually become my demise.

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. If you are surfing the internet for the perfect pair of cowboy boots, you might find ten different websites with boots that you love. Instead of bookmarking each one of those sites, you can copy every picture of boots you come across ("pin" in Pinterest terms) to your Pinterest account. Within your Pinterest account, you can create categories for each picture you pin. So for the cowboy boot example, you might create a category (a "board" in Pinterest terms) named "Cowboy Boots." Whenever you happen across a new picture of cowboy boots as you surf the web, you can pin that picture to your Cowboy Boots board. When you log into your Pinterest account, all those pictures you were pinning on your surfing extravaganza will show up on your Cowboy Boots board. When you have a Pinterest account, you can see what your friends and strangers are pinning. You might see friends pinning recipes to their recipe boards, or outfits to their clothing boards. They might be pinning craft ideas or handy tips. Or most dangerously for me, decorating ideas.

Pinterest is limited to your imagination. Which is why it is so much fun! I love it for many reasons. One reason, in particular, is that you can search on Pinterest and any picture with the word you searched for will appear. You can type in "scary" and it will return all pictures that have been labeled by the pinner as scary. The search could return pictures of scary things such as photos that appear to have ghosts in them. But it could also bring up a picture of Carrot Top. There is just something about that randomness that is quite appealing.

I love that it inspires me to create things. I also despise it for that very same reason. I become obsessed with how I want to decorate my house or what crafty project I want to try. I could easily spend hours pinning ideas. That is where my addiction takes over. So after much pinning, I decided that I would not just live vicariously through other people's houses or ideas. I actually tried some of these ideas. Here are the results:

Color Inspiration:

Source: frenchbydesign.blogspot.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

Result:

I deliberated for a few weeks before just going for this color. It's Evening Hush by Behr. I cautioned Dustin before he came home that the living room looked a little....black. It may not be for everyone but I love it.



Beadboard Inspiration:

Source: lh4.ggpht.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

Result:

This is wallpaper. But it looks remarkably like the real thing! This project stemmed from my bathroom project where I originally hung paintable wallpaper:

Speaking of the bathroom, I have to show you this. I was looking for an old floral print to hang in my bathroom. My mother-in-law spotted this card table at an antique store. It was a perfect fit on the bathroom wall!

Coffee table inspiration:

Source: countryliving.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

Result:

This table is actually a cabinet turned over. The cabinet came from a trash pile. The legs are drawers that I bought at a garage sale. Total cost: $12.00. I love other people's trash!




Chalkboard wall in the kitchen inspiration:

Source: littlebluedeer.com via Lan on Pinterest

Result:

My kids love this wall. Secretly, I do too.









My sister-in-law is a fellow Pinterest junkie. So during the Thanksgiving holiday we made Pinterest crafts. Here are a couple we did...

She bought Christmas bulbs to make wreaths. These were the leftovers converted into a Christmas tree.

We also made signs inspired by signs like this:

Source: notonthehighstreet.com via Angella on Pinterest

Result:
(Note: My letters didn't fit the canvas so I improvised and made my letters resemble a tree. I wasn't sure I liked it. Now that it is up, I think I do!)

Once I started redecorating, the creative bug took over. Here are some other crafty things I made inspired by the Pinterest world:





I painted all of my old suitcases white. I don't know why. I just did. And I really like them!

And the waterless snowglobes? Let's just say I want them everywhere. I can tell you what stores carry miniature trees within a 50 mile radius of my home. I can also tell you what varieties they offer. I am soooooo not done making these!

These last two pictures are my newest additions to the home. I didn't know what to hang in my landing until my mother-in-law suggested a tobacco basket. I loved the idea but one basket seemed too subtle. I wanted four. The problem? They aren't common around here, especially not 4 of them. That is until I found someone selling them just miles from my brother's house in Alabama. So just a few emails later, we planned to meet him to pick up 4 tobacco baskets during our Thanksgiving trip to Alabama. Little did we know that he had an entire storage unit of these baskets. He let me dig and dig and dig. (Well, Dustin dug while I decided on which ones I wanted. My sisters came along for moral support...and ended up with a couple basket of their own.)





So here are my new handpicked tobacco baskets straight from the South...

I love them so much that I fear I might break my neck one day while gazing at them as I walk down the stairs. Even if you hate how they look, you have to admit that they are unique!




So that's it for today!
A little home tour filled with Pinterest inspiration.

Tales from the Dryer

I was thinking about dryers the other day. They are marvelous inventions. I might be one of the few people in the world that doesn't enjoy the feeling or the scent of laundry fresh off of the line. Seriously, people are disillusioned when they say they love hanging clothes outside. Who wants to wrap a life size piece of sandpaper around their naked body when they come out of the shower? And furthermore, I don't want my clothes to smell like nature either. So for the life of me, I don't get these clothes line people.

So back to the dryer. (what sane people use) I really love that machine! But given the experiences I have had with dryers, one would think I despise them. Every once in awhile our dryer tends to die on us. It stops heating up, we get it repaired, it works, and then it stops heating up again. So far, the cycle continues every few years or so. I really can't complain about its fickle nature. Our dryer is elderly. It has been a part of our family since we became a family. When it is working, however, it eats stuff (like socks and spare change). Or it melts stuff, (like crayons and Chapstick). I've dug things outta that drum that should never have even made it past the threshold of the laundry room. The latest item being hundreds, no wait, thousands of air soft pellets. What a joyous day that was!!!!

As a kid, my Mom's dryer took the life of my pet hamster, Pancake. Prior to the incident, Pancake went MIA for about a week. Within that week, her travels took her from the top of our tri-level house to the bottom of our tri-level house. Her final destination was the laundry room. I'm guessing she was all over that washer and dryer. Judging by the teeth marks in the knobs, she was. After gnawing down the rubber encased knobs to the nubbins, Pancake somehow made her way into the inner workings of the dryer. It would be there that she would literally have the final ride of her life. She was found during a routine laundry folding session. It was a sad day. (Sorta, she WAS just a hamster...)

Perhaps, the most momentous day of my life involving a dryer had to be the day my sister and I decided to play hide and seek. It was my turn to hide. What better place to hide than in the dryer, right? So, in I went. Deep within the walls of the machine, I could hear my sister. I remember thinking two things. #1 "gee it's taking her a long time to find me" and #2 "it doesn't sound like she is 'seeking' me at all." Shortly after I had this conversation with myself, the dryer door flew open. Relieved that she found me, I leaned forward to make my way out. Instead of seeing my sister ready to embrace me with loving arms, I felt a pair of jeans hit my face. The door slammed shut and the dryer rumbled to a start. There I was, tumbling around in the dryer with my sister's jeans. I can tell you that going around in the dryer isn't all it's cracked up to be. My mom's dryer had these little fins that jutted out of the dryer walls every 12 inches or so. So each time I made a revolution, some part of me rammed into one of those hard fins. About 4-5 turns into it and my sister miraculously "found" and "rescued" me. I put that in quotes because I think she knew I was in there from the second I slammed the dryer door shut. Tell me, who wouldn't hear the familiar slam of the dryer door while playing hide and seek and NOT know where the person was hiding?!?! (Not to mention, I am 99% sure those jeans weren't even wet.)

I honestly don't know if I screamed or yelled or if I did anything while I was in that dryer. I can't even remember what happened once I got out. I blame my memory deficit on the fact that I took a spin in a gas dryer. If you ask my sister, she recalls this day much differently than I do. I just know that I happen to be lucky enough to live to tell the tale.

Given all these negatives, I still heart dryers. They are wonder machines that make clothes warm and soft. They can't help destroying the items that get in the way of their mission. It's not the dryer's fault that a pair of cargo pants with pockets filled to the brim with stickers, gum and snickers bars has been inadvertently been loaded into it. It's there for one purpose and when it is in proper working order, it serves its purpose like no other.

Oh! And do you know who happened to discover Pancake's lifeless body and then proceed to pull her out of the dryer thinking it was a stuffed animal? My sister.
:D (hehehe)
I guess you could say she has lots of dryer stories, too.

Stuck.

WARNING: SUPER LONG POST AHEAD

It recently occurred to me that I get stuck a lot. Tonight, I got stuck in a coat that I was trying on at the store. It wasn't a pretty sight. The zipper refused to move. There I was, in the middle of the sportwear aisle frantically trying to free myself from the coat's deathgrip. I handle situations like this with poise and calm. Or, at least I would like to pretend I do. In reality, I panic. Big time! I am not sure what comes over me. Illogical thoughts and feelings of terror take over. It is silly if you think about it. I don't get worked up over major issues that normal people would. I get worked up when I am stuck in a jacket at the local T.J. Maxx. Once I talked myself down from the my manic thoughts, I managed to escape the clutches of the evil garment. As I drove home, I started thinking about getting stuck.

The first time I realized that I do not use sound judgement in these moments occured just a few years ago. Dustin thought it would be hilarious to put an empty laundry basket over my head while I was doing the laundry. I am not referring to one of those shallow, rectangular laundry baskets. I am talking about one of those tall, skinny, deep laundry baskets made for families with some serious laundry issues. It pinned my arms to my sides. I was stuck in a laundry basket. I instantly went into panic mode which entailed crazed breathing followed by weeping. Why I didn't reason in my head that the situation was temporary and that I would live through it, I will never know. (and I think my reaction took Dustin by surprise...)

I have other stuck situations that come to mind. I had to have, not one but TWO, friends free me from a shirt I tried on in the dressing room at Kohl's. I guess that is my punishment for thinking I could squeeze into a shirt that was 2 sizes too small.

I also got stuck in my 1991 Toyota Camry once. The car would randomly decide that it didn't want the driver's side door to latch shut. On those days, I would have to hold the door shut with my right hand while steering with my left. Tired of driving like this, I had a brilliant idea. I would pull the door as hard as I could. When it felt like it was as close to really being shut as it could be, I would lock the door. So I tried it and it worked like a charm! When I arrived at my destination, I hit the unlock button waiting to hear that familiar unlocking sound. All I heard was the chirping of crickets. Here is where my illogical thinking started up: I seriously thought maybe I pressed the button wrong. So I pressed it again. and again. and again. Still nothing. That's right. I was locked inside the car. I panicked and hit the unlock button over and over and over again. I tried pressing the button ever so lightly. I tried pushing it as hard as humanly possible. I even tried different combinations of pushing such as three light pushes followed by one hard push. Nothing unlocked that door. It was becoming apparent that the jaws of life was the next step to freedom. Camry: 1 Steph: 0 Defeated, I finally just gave up and sat there. This is when logical thought started to flow again. I suddenly realized that the passenger door was unlocked. So I did what any person would do, I climbed over to the passenger side and got out like it was an everyday occurence. Did I mention I was 8 months pregnant? So imagine that scenario, if you dare.

As I thought about writing this, I began thinking about being stuck in life. I feel like that sometimes. That I am just stuck. The more I think I am stuck the more panicked I get. Many times I look at a situation I am in and think to myself, "I wish I could do this/have this/be this but I can't because I am stuck on this stage in life." I have this delusion that once I move beyond my current life stage that everything will be better or different or more exciting. Oftentimes, I panic and think "when will I move on? I have stuff to do in that next stage!" The funny thing is that I want to get to the next stage so badly but when I look back at past stages I long to be there again. Can I never just be content with where I am now? When I sat down to reason this out it makes perfect sense that I would look at life this way. Afterall, whenever I get stuck I panic and think irrationally. Once I talked myself out of my illogical thinking, I began to realize I am not stuck at all. I don't need to dream up some fantasy future world where I could do/have/be what I want. I need to be thankful for what I can do/have/am right now. I find that what stops me from the do/have/be is me. I am literally getting in the way of myself! This realization hit me hard. I have so much to be thankful for and all I can do is think of the stuff I don't have and when I will be able to attain it. Frankly, I am embarrased to even admit that! But now that I have, I slapped myself in the face and told myself to "get a grip, lady." If I want to do/have/be I just need to do/have/be. I am laying my "stuck" attitude to rest. It is the mantra of cowards and of those that take the role of the victim. I refuse to be either of those. I had a life lesson today. I learned that I need to slow down, talk myself out of the panic, and be thankful for the life I am in at the moment. All of these thoughts stemmed from that evil T.J. Maxx coat. I guess maybe it wasn't so evil afterall. Viva la vida, baby!

I can't have a blog with no pictures. So here are a few moments in life when I felt stuck (but looking back I miss these times)...





Thought at the time: next year this won't be so difficult. Fact: Next year's picture was a wreck, too :)

see?

Thought at the time: They won't make such a mess when they get older. Fact: They tend to make bigger messes now because their brains are bigger.

See? Last year, Lily managed to open every. single. Christmas present. And then hide the evidence behind the chair.

Thought at the time: Life will get easier when I get out of school and we get married. Fact: Some things got easier and some things got harder. That's life.

Thanks for taking the time to read this super sized blog. And thanks for reading any of my blogs for that matter. If I can entertain just one person, than it is worth it! :)

"Enjoy the little things in life for someday you will look back and realize they were the big things."

The firsts.

...I got some grief for my last blog. I guess people don't like being blindsided at work by sappy stories. Really, I didn't think it was that bad. But anyway, this one shouldn't make you weep. If it does, than you are more emotional than me. And that is a feat unto itself...


It was a day of firsts around here. And this momma is TIRED!


1. First day of school EVER for Lily. (She loved it.)

2. First day for me to pick up Lily EXTREMELY late from school. I didn't think Nappanee could endure one more construction crew but somehow I managed to find it at its peak construction hour. I happily sat for 15 minutes at a dead standstill. It was worth it because it allowed me to sit and patiently think about my dreams, my goals, and just life in general. (It is at this point in my blog that I would like to say I wish deeply that there was a font style to convey sarcasm.) What I do know is that I am sure I made quite an impression on her teachers. I might possibly be blacklisted from the good mom club after that one. Not good. Especially on the first day.





3. First day of dance for Lily. (She loved that even more than school.)

4. Lily's first updo which I cleverly called a "bun." (NOT the first time for me to realize that I was not born to do hair.)

5. First indication that I would prove to be a clueless dance mom in the world of the serious dance mom. (Sorry no photo for proof, you'll just have to trust me on this one.)





6. First time I cooked in about 6 months.





7. First time Will claimed he hated "basagna" and loved "basagna" within a ten minute period. (That would be "lasagna," in case you were confused.)

8. First time I heard someone use the word "boondoggle" several times in a five minute period. I won't delve any further on this one. It was just a first for me.





9. First time Dustin turned 30. (Thus, the ONLY reason I cooked. He requested it.) Happy birthday, Dut!

10. First time we had a blizzard ice cream cake. The DQ ice cream cake is a staple for Dustin's birthdays. I think they are so so. Now the blizzard ice cream cake? That was pretty remarkable. I think the one we got was called ooey gooey chocolatey carmely chewy chunky brownie. Or something like that.

And that's all I have for tonight! Hope you enjoyed my new,no more tears formula blog.

The Paper Lantern.

Ever since we watched Tangled, Will and Lily have been obsessed with paper lanterns. And when I say "Will and Lily," I actually mean "Dustin and Stephanie." In the movie, the entire kingdom releases about 9000 paper lanterns into the air. Even though it is just a cartoon, it still is very breathtaking. It really is. I am actually not being sarcastic for once.

Dustin thought making and releasing our own paper lanterns into the atmosphere would be a good family night activity. Upon investigation, we learned that paper lantern making is nearly as complicated as building a nuclear reactor. If I recall, I think part of the instructions required one to obtain a rare glue that is only found deep within the rain forests of South America. OK, maybe it wasn't that dramatic. But it still required materials we either #1 didn't already have #2 didn't know where to obtain or #3 didn't know what they were. So when Caleb came home with a paper lantern from the fireworks store, we were pretty relieved because #1 we didn't have to comb the earth for rare precious materials to make a paper lantern that was destined to end up as ashes and #2 we realized that Caleb does pay attention to what we talk about sometimes.

Since the allure of actually making paper lanterns went up in flames (pun TOTALLY intended), Dustin thought it would be interesting for everyone to write either a prayer or praise on the store-bought lantern. We would then send it up to heaven. Kids prayers are the best. They can be hilarious. Like when Will prays that he will one day have The Force. (You know, the Star Wars "force".) And they can be also be so very sweet and sincere. Like when Will prays for those who don't have Jesus in their hearts. On the night of the paper lantern, the kids took the sincere route. Since I can't seem to put the camera down, Dustin wrote on the lantern whatever Will and Lily dictated to him.

I was pleased with Caleb because he actually took this activity seriously. He sometimes isn't too thrilled with family night activities. (I mean what 13 year old wouldn't LOVE to spend a night playing Candy Land with the family?!?)

Once we finished the writing part, we headed outside to release our prayers to God.

(Sidenote: My camera doesn't do well in low light situations. So I had many issues taking all of these photos. I had to manipulate this next picture in order to make it more visable. I kinda like the funkiness (I probably made that word up) of it. Guess I need to upgrade if I really want to capture these family memories from now on...hint hint Dustin)

I think Will was awestruck.

Once Dustin and Caleb were able to get the lantern lit, they released it into the night sky. It peacefully floated upward while we watched it in silence. I thought it looked so graceful. As it drifted higher and higher, I thought about how small we are really are in this world. And despite that, each of our prayers would still be heard. That thought gave me goosebumps!

We watched the lantern until we could no longer see it. The night was so tranquil that it was hard to go back inside. The kids had all sorts of questions about their prayers and that lantern. Lily kept asking if it made it up to heaven yet. I tried to explain that even before we wrote down our prayers that Jesus already knew them. She really didn't understand. I hope we didn't confuse her too much by literally sending prayers to heaven. I suppose I may have to explain it better in the weeks, months, maybe even years to come. But for now, I think we made an impression on them. Weeks after this event, Lily asked me if Jesus got our lantern. She is still thinking about it.

It is so amazing to see the wheels turning in their heads when we do things like this. Now as I look back at this night, I thank God for entrusting Dustin and I with these three souls. This is an amazing journey. It turned out to be a memorable family night on so many levels.

The Warrior Dash.

Dustin has a thing for legs. Turkey legs. I am not sure where his obsession comes from. All I know is that he will go out of his way to track down a turkey leg. When we went to Disney World years ago, turkey legs were a hot topic of conversation. He couldn't stop talking about them. Frankly, his fixation on the turkey leg has only grown stronger.

So when Dustin informed me he was going to enter a race consisting of barbed wire, fire, and viking helmets, my only question was: are they serving turkey legs? Sure enough, turkey legs would be there. Well, then so would we. Last weekend we headed to Crawfordsville for a little taste of Dustin's world. A day filled with torturous obstacles, mud, and pure mayhem is right up his alley.

**Sidenote: We stayed in a hotel the night before the race. About a week leading up to arrival at this fine establishment, Dustin warned me that this hotel might not meet my expectations. Despite the stale smoke scent and the blood stained carpet, the room provided nice lodging for the night. I couldn't help but wonder if we were staying in the very room that inspired Michael Jackson to pen Smooth Criminal. (I don't think it was really blood, I don't think...)**

Okay, back to race day. Dustin managed to rope a friend into joining him on this adventure. I was designated as photographer, water holder, and holder of anything else they did not want to get ruined. (This job earned me a trip to Pottery Barn later that day so it was worth every water bottle I lugged around. Pottery Barn, I love you.)


Here is how the day went...




Gearing up...

Warming up....

Freaky mustached up...

I don't know this guy. But you need to see him.

I was trying to get a shot of the guy in the neon green leotard. It was fantastic! But apparently that other guy waving at the camera wanted in the picture more. So here you go, guy waving at the camera...

And they are off!

Unfortunately, the entire course isn't spectator friendly. I wasn't able to witness all of the obstacles. Instead of just standing around, I took a few pictures of my favorite costume of the day (at least I hope that was a costume).

Probably the reason this guy was my favorite is because he was all by himself. He didn't need moral support to wear this.

After about 30 minutes of taking pictures of a complete stranger, (Don't be alarmed. I didn't really follow that guy around for 30 minutes. Maybe only 10 minutes...20 minutes at the very most...) Dustin and Tye finally came into view...

I followed them to the final obstacle...

They made it out alive!

It was a good day. The weather was great, people watching was at its prime, and Dustin was able to unleash his inner warrior.

And yes, he even got a turkey leg.