I’m writing this post on a tour bus in Albert Lea, Minnesota. It’s our “green room” for the evening. I feel silly even typing that out. It sounds so rockstar.

It’s quite the bus. The owner, who is sitting right outside (watching a TV that is on the OUTSIDE of the INSIDE of the bus…I know, it’s confusing), says it’s the same kind of bus Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire use. Well, by George…

He also inserted that it’s a $1.1 million bus.

Indigo just asked if he could go big one in there. Yes, you can. Indigo says it’s kinda weird that the toilet paper is inside the cupboard. Yes, it is.

My kids want to live on this bus. I wouldn’t mind either. Although, I’d have to completely redo it. It’s kind of…shall we say…gaudy…in an awesome sort of way.

The pictures are going to be stinky because there are mirrors and windows everywhere and I don’t know the trick to photographing those…but, you’ll get the idea.

Past that bathroom is the bedroom…it’s a big puppy.

When I was little, I wanted to live in a campa (camper)…it was my lifelong dream to live in a campa and I think I’ve never fully gotten over that. No, I don’t want to actually camp, don’t be silly…I just like the thought of reclining as I travel. And rummaging through the kitchen to get a snack out on Hwy 35.

You never know when you might need to look at yourself mid-dream…

Nate’s headlining an event tonight…a community concert outside with a combination of churches around town.

We’ve gotten spoiled a bit…good food, the bus…our own port-a-potty. How ’bout that? Two days in a row/port-a-potties. God, are you trying to tell me something? Hmm…not sure what that would be…moving right along.

A little pre-concert fun…

We just wanna hang on the bus…this is our nephew, Chris, with Greyley…can you tell they’re cousins? By the way, Chris is Andrew’s brother, who you met in yesterday’s blog.

Nate’s band for the night: Aaron Ankrum/electric guitar, Nate/vocals & acoustic guitar, Chris Brown/drums, Matt Patrick/bass, Billy Steele/keys.

Trainin’ them up right…Indie carrying gear when the night is over…

And now we’re off to the Country Inn like good little rockstars.

Good-night, folks!

Josh & Elissa, continued…

What a wonderful wedding. I promised pictures. I tried to capture everything, but there was no way I could do it justice. It was a delightful wedding, a fabulous day…

I’ll tell you now that I had nothing to do with how great this wedding turned out~ I was strictly there for hugs, support, and love. They did all the work.

I’ll take you to the beginning of the afternoon…meet Elissa. (This is part of the cozy daisy, for those of you who have been reading a while…)

And here she is, ready to meet her man!

On the way down to the barn…

The Wild Flower Chapel. Welcome…

The groom and groomsmen hung out here before the wedding…this is the upstairs of the barn…this is the only thing that pretty much looks like this all the time. (Thank you, Carol Z!)

Josh & Elissa

Sweet little touches that looked magical when it got dark…

The little gremlins during the wedding…

Here comes the bride…

The vows. Nate performed the ceremony…

Wild flowers at each table…

This is me and my nephew, Andrew. He’s a good man.

This is part of his family…Andrew, Cheri, and Miracle. They also have Axel, who is Indie’s age, and another little one on the way.
Josh is Nate’s favorite person in the whole wide world. I don’t blame him. Josh is the greates
t. Everyone who knows him knows this.

His & Hers Port-a-Potties

Newlyweds on the Bridge

This is the dessert buffet. Earlier there was a fabulous roasted pork & turkey buffet. It was delicious. The best wedding food I’ve ever had.

My fave snapshot

Evening at The Wild Flower Chapel

My dancer friend, Erika~ visiting from New York! We miss her…always good to see her face. She’s also a blast to cut a rug with…she’s got some moves.

Sending the couple off with sparklers

Sorta hard to capture, but it was so pretty in real life…

Indigo getting carried away with sparklers…he wanted to play drums with them.

Out on the dance floor, taking a break from groovin’…

So much fun. Congratulations, Josh & Elissa. We love you both. XO

There’s going to be a wedding here tonight!

Love is in the air. There is a lovely white tent involved…a charming, red barn…and lots of flowers and twinkly lights. It’s going to be so fun.

Two of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet are getting married at our place later this afternoon. Josh & Elissa. They’re the kind of couple that you just have a good feeling about…they’re perfect together.

I have never known a more laid back couple than these two. Elissa is the bride of every man’s dreams. She is SO low maintenance, so all about just being Josh’s wife and not about all the stuff…she is head over heels over our Josh and that makes us absolutely adore her. Plus, she’s really great all on her own.

Josh has worked with Nate forever…in the studio, at church, on tours…he’s Nate’s right hand man. He is the kindest soul in the whole wide world. Truly. There is no other Josh out there. I don’t know what we would do without him. We’re thrilled that he has found his bride.

Say a prayer that not a drop of rain comes anywhere near…that the wind will be tame…and Greyley’s hoping that wild turkeys will decide to run through right when the couple says, “I do.” I thought it would be cool if several deer went leaping past, like they did the other morning at breakfast…so…we can all keep our fingers crossed about that.

I’ll take a ton of pictures and share them with you tomorrow.

I promised that today I’d be sunny…well, I am…I got a little sunburned. Not bad, just rosy.

The kids and I had a great day at the waterpark with Tosh and her kids. There were lots of fun slides and a lazy river…love that lazy river. The pool is humongous and Indigo can touch the bottom of a large section, so fun was had by all.

It was nice to enjoy what they’re touting around here as the “last good day of summer.”

Here’s where hot dogs fit into the story…

I haven’t told you about the status with Greyley and the migraines. A few months ago, she was having a really bad one. We were in the bathroom, she was throwing up, and begging me to help her. We were both in tears and I told her to ask God to help her…that he was the only one who could.

So she started pleading with God to help her.

It broke my heart. I was having my own little conversation with God, if you want to know the truth. It went a little something like this~ If you can’t hear that, you can’t hear anything. Or something to that effect.

Well, God heard her.

What had been a two-week cycle of migraines and vomiting stretched out and out and out, until we were past a month and on into two…

I didn’t want to say a word about it. Quietly, I was thanking God for it, but afraid to say anything out loud about it. I know it’s silly, but I just didn’t want to mess it up in any way.

But Greyley ever since, has been saying, “I don’t get headaches anymore…I can eat that, it won’t hurt me…I’m not gonna get a headache.”

There was one time that she thought she might be getting one, but said, “Everyone gets headaches sometimes…this is not a migraine.”

She loves hot dogs. They have never loved her. There is something in them~ I think it’s the nitrates~ that makes her so sick.

I usually get the organic/nitrate-free hot dogs for her. They’re not quite as tasty, in her opinion, but she likes them a lot.

We got careless at the waterpark today. It’s been a blissful summer~ migraine free…I can’t even remember going this long without one in her entire life. It’s been so wonderful. So…I told her she could have whatever she wanted from the food stand and she picked a hot dog and ice cream…

Fast forward to a couple hours later…after the fun and sun…she’s got a headache…it’s getting worse and worse…yep, it’s a migraine…

Throws up. Once. Twice. Three Times. Four Times.

Hot dogs are of Satan.

I will never let her have a regular hot dog again. Ever.

No matter how much she tries to talk me into it.

I’m putting it into print, so I cannot go back on my word.

I. Hate. Hot. Dogs. And. We. Don’t. Say. Hate.

Before she fell asleep, Nate asked if she was discouraged…because she took this pretty hard~ getting a migraine. She said, “Yes, a little.”

I can tell that she’s more than a little discouraged and that breaks my heart more than the whole awful night we’ve had. I don’t want her to give up hoping to be better.

So, my dear friends. Please pray that Greyley will get her miracle and be free of this for good. She’s such a bubbly, warm, loving person who enjoys life so much and these migraines are like a dark cloud that comes and settles over her, taking the life right out of her.

I’ll do my part. I won’t give her any more hot dogs. Now, if God would just please see fit to give her another good long stretch without them…until they’re nothing but a distant memory.

Yesterday, on a cool blog, I came across this link to my past~ a picture of one of the very early Swatch watches…

Mine was the one on the far right at the top.

It filled me with nostalgia. I hearted that watch. I thought Swatches were the cutest, little whimsical things I’d ever seen…and I didn’t even use the word “whimsical” back then.

My really good friend, Shawn, gave it to me. He was my bud from school and church who called every day of the world for many years. I haven’t seen him in about fifteen years now, probably, but he got me through some tough pre-teen and teenage years. He also drove me nuts at times. He wouldn’t be shocked to hear me say this, so I don’t feel too bad about saying it. Because I just know he’s reading this blog right now. Ha, right.

But if you are, Shawn, thanks for sitting by me every day at lunch even though you were teased mercilessly…sometimes, even by me. I admire that.

Anyway…that sweet Swatch…

I wore it forever…or at least for a good five years. I used to collect watches~ whenever I went on a trip, I’d spend my money on a cute watch. I had quite a nice collection by the time I was 18.

There was also this coat…I couldn’t find a worthy picture…but it was a cool brown suede jacket (OK, it had a little bit of fringe, but it was still cool!). I had it on layaway for a while and FINALLY got it out to take it on a trip with me.

A long jean skirt was also a hot commodity and I had found just the perfect one that went with everything.

All these things were in my luggage when I met Nate, Greg & Tonja at a youth weekend they were part of in L.A. It was before Nate and I were married. I was going to watch Greg & Tonja’s newborn, Chelsea, for them while they sang.

We checked into a nice motel. The outside wasn’t anything to speak of, but the inside of my room was large and I had it all to myself. I think that may have been a first for me, now that I think of it. No wonder bad…uh, but, I digress.

Since my only mission for the weekend was to babysit and look cute~ this is ESPECIALLY critical when you’re dating someone long distance~ I had my finest things with me.

I carried all my watches in a nice little bag…of course, they had to make the trip.

The first night was so fun…they sang one of my favorite songs, Silent Love by Russ Taff. I thought I’d save my suede jacket for the next night…kinda up the cuteness factor ante, you know…

When we got back to the motel that night, we noticed that the lock on my door was broken. In fact, it was sort of just hanging there. What in the world? It absolutely was not that way when I left it. We opened the door and the inside of my room was trashed. The blankets and pillows were strewn everywhere…and the closet and drawers with all my things were EMPTY.

No more suede jacket. No more jean skirt. No more Swatch. No more watches whatsoever.

Stolen; gone.

They were nice enough to leave a little bit of my underwear…and my toothbrush.

The housekeeper was about my size. I’m not positive she (or anyone else she knew, like a big, strong boyfriend) did it, so I shouldn’t even say that…but she had eyed my clothes earlier that day.

OK, it was totally her and her mafia dude.

There really isn’t a happy ending to this story. I got a little bit of money…but there was no replacing the Swatch or anything else.

Wow, this was kind of a dud story to tell, wasn’t it.

Tomorrow, I will be sunny.

Everyone knows that summer is the time of road construction, but doesn’t it still get exhausting? There are a couple areas by my house that make it so inconvenient to get anywhere because of the work they’re doing on the roads.

I have to take several detours to get to church…I finally get back on the right road, only to hit another detour.

While I was traveling the last few weeks, there was road construction all along the way.

I’ve come to dread the word, “Detour.”

Detour~ an indirect or roundabout procedure, path, etc.

I’ve always done things the hard way~ not purposely, but mostly because it just seems to be the way my mind processes things. My dad has teased me before about how I cut a tomato. He gets it done in seconds and I’m still only halfway through cutting it.

How I would love to avoid going the roundabout way.

When I think about life and all the things I want to do while I still can, I take these mini detours over and over again. Constantly, I find myself drawn to various things that I truly love, but that seem to keep me from doing the other things I know I’m supposed to be doing.

For instance, my writing~ sometimes I’d rather go pick worms than write. But, I know that I’m supposed to write. I feel better when I write. I’m easier to be around when I’m writing…but there are times I get stuck, times I’d rather do anything BUT write, and times when I’d much rather just put it on a shelf, never to be picked up again.

In those times, it’s good to have a little distraction with something else that I enjoy doing (such as jewelry), so I won’t throw it all to the wind.

Some detours cannot be avoided. Money has to be made, after all…ditches have to be avoided…roads do need to be patched up.

This seems to be what life consists of: going that roundabout way, never quite sure where you’re going, but with a destination in mind…

Some people take major detours~ they go to school and become a lawyer and then realize it wasn’t really their dream after all. They become a direct marketer instead…or a writer…or a stay-at-home mom. It seems to all be OK. But would it have been better if they hadn’t gone the roundabout way? It sure seems as if it would be easier, but maybe that detour is what made them a better direct marketer, etc.

Hmm. Semi-deep thoughts.

Whatever the outcome, when I see the “Road Construction” sign ahead, I will try to brace myself and not lose my way on all the detours…and go ahead and pick up my computer and WRITE.

Or, at the very least, not run over an orange cone.

I was asked to write about my pregnancy with my daughter, Greyley…you’ve already heard about my pregnancy with Indigo…so here you go…

It was around Christmas of 1997 that I got pregnant. I knew right away. I’ve always known right away when I get pregnant…not really sure why, exactly. I’ve been right all 5 times. But this being my first pregnancy, I sort of second-guessed myself.

I did a pregnancy test, though, and sure enough, it was positive right away. I wrapped the test up in a pretty package~ gross, I know~ and gave it to Nate at dinner that night. He was shocked and so happy.

I had the usual nausea and discomfort in the first few months, but around my fourth month, I began to feel better. I loved my belly, loved eating whatever I wanted, loved feeling the baby kick. I wrote in a journal every day, detailing my pregnancy and things I wanted to tell my baby.

We KNEW we were having a girl, so there was no surprise when the ultrasound showed that to be the case. I could not wait to have a little girl…just could NOT settle on a name.

Around my seventh month, we took the youth choir on a tour to St. Louis…in July, of all months…and that is when things got a little scary.

It was a LONG bus ride. I’m a pretty chipper person and was fine and jolly on the way there. The kids teased me every time I had to make a trek to the back of the bus to go to the bathroom. However, the heat when we got to St. Louis took my breath away. In order to do the concerts at night, I had to avoid the fun activities during the day. All in all, though, I did fine. I was a pretty happy pregnant person.

The night before we were supposed to go home, our close friends, Stuart and Teresa were hanging out in our room. Stuart is a hysterical person. He can make me laugh until I cry…and that’s just what I did that night. Truly…I laughed so hard that I felt something happen in my stomach and I actually said, “Uh-oh, something just happened.”

When I got up to tell them good-night as they left, I couldn’t stand up straight. She had dropped. Nate had to help me get to the bathroom all night and help me onto the bus the next morning. I was walking better by the next day, but she was so low. I had to go the bathroom the entire day…every half hour or so…on a smelly bus.

The ride seemed to take forever, of course…and my humor wasn’t quite as handy as usual…it seemed to have left itself in St. Louie.

I went to bed when we got home and stayed there for a few days. I believe we came home on a Monday night and on Thursday, I went into pre-term labor. I went into the emergency room and they gave me shots of terbutaline to try to stop things from progressing. That slowed things down, but I had to go back a few more times for those shots, because it would just start back up. So they sent me home with pills of terbutaline and visceril…one would make me hyper and jumpy; the other made me want to sleep all the time.

For the next 6 or 7 weeks, I was on bed rest, taking that medication like clockwork. This is when I came up with Greyley’s name…so it was a good, productive time.

Alex adored me being on bed rest. I had to lie down on my left side all the time and he would get all situated on my right hip, head hanging onto my massive stomach. It was the best time of his life.

My friends and sweet people from the church brought meals over. Also, during this time, we moved. Yes, we moved when I was 8 months pregnant. And I couldn’t pack hardly anything. This is when you are so very thankful for a caring church body…they got me through it. I had to swallow some pride and let them go through my things, but at that point, I didn’t really care…

I made it to 37 weeks and was able to get off the medication. After all the scares, I thought I’d be in the hospital that night, having my baby. I wanted that to happen. I was tired of my bed and ready to see this baby who was so anxious to get out.

My first day off of medication, I went to the State Fair and sang BGVs with Sara Groves. And walked and walked…I seriously wanted to HAVE that baby.

But she hung in there a few more days…I was constantly contracting, for days on end, 3 minutes apart…for what felt like an eternity. At exactly 38 weeks, after feeling miserable all day…around 11 PM on a Friday night, I knew it was time to go in.

My mom was in town, so she and Nate took me to the hospital and they admitted me. United Hospital in downtown St. Paul…it’s connected to Children’s Hospital, so it’s a great place to be.

It took a while. I was dilated to 7, the following day, when I made the delirious decision to have an epidural. Oh, thank the sweet Lord that I did.

My doctor didn’t show up. A strange doctor showed up at the very last second to give me an episiotomy…ouch, I don’t recommend those…and then out my sweet baby girl came!

We all bawled and Greyley scowled and cried like she was furious with us for messing with her.

Greyley Kate, 5 lbs. 13 oz. born at 7:21 PM on Saturday…

With her Honey (My Mama)

Those first 3 months were really hard. We had a huge adjustment learning how to breastfeed…she didn’t want to and I did. Sleep was also a hot commodity…she didn’t want to and I did.

But oh, what a sweetheart.

I just held her and looked at her and sang to her and kissed her face off and loved her. Still do and then some.

She charmed everyone from day one.

My, how it flies.

Love you, my sweet Girly Girl.

Hey, friends! Goodness, I’ve missed you. Just took a little break from everything for a bit. Thanks for your sweet messages on here and emails/Facebook.

It’s nice to be missed…

These past few weeks, I’ve been blessed in having time with long distance friends. Over the weekend, my friends, Staci and Laura were in town. I’ve talked about them both on GM many times. It was great to have them both at the same time. It’s been over a year since we’ve all been together.

A lot of snorting goes on. So. Much. Fun.

In being away, I’ve missed my homegirls. And Tosh…we just keep missing each other. I go out of town. She goes out of town. I go out of town.

Anyway…the bummer about having friends is the missing that goes on after you’re together.

I have always hated to miss people. My dad had to travel a lot when I was little. He would leave on Monday morning and come home on Friday night. I would miss him so much that I started to pretend I was asleep on the way to the airport so I wouldn’t have to tell him good-bye.

That’s how I feel right now. So many loved ones; so little time together. And don’t even get me started on missing my parents. It’s just too hard.

I had the revelation (while flying, I might add), that I should be a flight attendant. I could go all over the country, meet different friends for lunch, and be home by evening.

I’m simplifying it, of course, I know it wouldn’t be that simple, but doesn’t that sound lovely?

Unfortunately, no one is hiring right now, so I’m out of luck for now…but you never know…give it a couple of months and I might just be writing about life in the skies.

So, to all the friends I’ve been able to see over the last few weeks, thanks for the fun, the laughs, and for making time for me in your busy lives. And to the ones I haven’t seen lately, pray I get a job as a flight attendant.

Philippians 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you.

Hey, Loved Ones…

Thanks for your laughs and sympathies with my last few experiences. Gotta laugh, don’t you.

I’m taking a little sabbatical. I’ll be back soon, I promise!

Love you all.

So we’re staying at the Holiday Inn Express…a little non-assuming place that looks nice enough on the outside…even pretty nice on the inside.

But it’s like the Twilight Zone where everything is not QUITE right.

We check in, haul the overloaded cart of luggage to my parents’ room first, things falling off right and left.

We over packed, all right?

When we open the door to their room, we were met with piles of blankets on the bed and things in disarray…it hadn’t been cleaned yet.

That’s OK. Let’s move on.

I get to my room. It was before Nate and the kids arrived. It’s hotter than Hades. Nothing a little air conditioning can’t solve.

I call and ask for a crib since I know by the looks of the couch bed that Indigo will fall off of it in no time…with no convenient place to land. The guy comes up with the crib and there aren’t any blankets on it. There’s one little diaper cloth on there, not even as thick as a changing pad.

No problem. I figure there is some sort of blanket hiding around somewhere in the room.

Nate and the kids get in. Yay! Reunion! Hugs!

The kids put on their swimsuits and head down to the pool. The front desk is right by the pool and we go up to ask for some blankets for Indigo’s bed. A girl in a swimsuit comes out to greet us…in her “uniform of the night.”

When I ask for a blanket, the other girl says, “Didn’t you see the blanket I put in there?”

“Uh…it looked kinda flat,” I say, apologetically…

She sort of begrudgingly hands over a blanket. I run it up to the 2nd floor, but my key doesn’t work. That’s OK. I’ve got to go down again anyway. I’ll just take it back up later.

On one of the trips down, we checked the couch bed to see if maybe there was an extra blanket in there. Nothing. Stripped clean.

Nate goes to the front desk about blankets for the couch now. Honey and the kids are headed to the pool area. I walk in as Greyley jumps in. Indigo is anxious to be in the pool. I tell him to wait to get on his “teety float” (what he calls floats, for some reason).

He sees Greyley jump in, walks over, and jumps in.

He learned to swim in California a couple of months ago, but has needed this little float for back up, apparently. He sputters and gasps and looks panicky into my eyes, when he comes up for breaths. I jump in with all my clothes on and haul him out.

“Sorry, Mama,” he keeps saying, as we hold each other. He gave me a good scare. He’s pretty shaken himself.

The hotel clerk is in the hot tub, entertained by a little something out of the ordinary. Or maybe people jump in after their sputtering kids with all their clothes on every day.

In between these little exciting moments, Indigo has to go to the bathroom. Numerous times. What is it about swimming that just makes that inevitable? Nate and I take turns taking him. So now, I’m traipsing through the lobby with my wet t-shirt and skirt clinging and dripping all over the floor.

The staff doesn’t care. Now they’re sitting in their suits in the lobby chairs, drinking coffee.

After I take Indie to the bathroom, I realize how chilly I am. I see the blankets sitting on the front desk counter, so I leave everyone and take the blankets upstairs. I get all the way to my room and the key doesn’t work again.

Rats.

I traipse my drippy self BACK to the desk. “The key doesn’t work again.”

Haha. She laughs. “And you just left all those blankets up there, didn’t you.”

She’s so funny, that girl.

In the meantime, we realize the Internet isn’t working. It was earlier, but just went completely dead and will not come back around. It never DOES come around, the whole visit…

As you know from yesterday’s post, I go to Panera Bread to get online. It takes a while, but finally goes up. When I get back to the room, everyone is at the pool. I go up to get my suit on…key doesn’t work.

This is beginning to get on my nerves.

We swim, spending most of the morning out of the room. After noon, I go ahead of everyone to get my shower.

Get to the room. Nope, key’s not working.

Of course, it isn’t.

It takes everything within me not to be a little snippy at the counter. It’s not swimsuit lady though, so I’m nice. She doesn’t know the history here. Apparently, she helped Nate with HIS key a couple of times too, though, while I was at Panera…so she got acquainted real quick.

I get in the shower and JUST as I’m getting out, housekeeping comes to the door. She opens the door. I say, “Hi, I’ll be out of here in ten minutes, can you come back then?”

She says, “This is my last room! I’ll be DONE!”

What? It’s all of 12:30, at most.

I can’t argue though. I’m naked.

“Just give me new towels then, please,” I say and I throw out the wet towels.

She has the audacity to huff at me for tossing out the towels.

Eventually, we’re all ready and go down to Honey & Papa’s room. Who should be in their room, but Little Miss Done for the Day Housekeeper…

I told Nate the scenario and so he says to her, “Oh, since you’re still here, can you go clean 231?”

She says, “I already did.”

I walk away so I won’t trip her. You know how I like to do that.

She came up and made our bed. It made me feel a lot better about things. Not that I needed her to, I could have done it myself. Lord knows, I’m used to making up a stinkin’ bed. It was the concept, folks.

Don’t mess with me when I’m not fully clothed.

Ahh, there are several other stories here, but I’m already rattling. Just trust me, it’s been interesting.

And confusing.

And loads of walks to the front desk for new keys. I think I’ve done my miles for the week.

Next time I come here I will make sure my room is right by the front desk…

Ha! You think I’m coming back here?

All right…that’s all I have to say. I’m off to Panera.