Saturday, March 28, 2009

Winter and Wine - San Francisco 49ers Event

Our friends invited us on an amazing family weekend in Squaw Valley (Tahoe) to the San Fran 49ers charity event. It was an incredible weekend filled with tons of surprises, sore muscles, Olympians and huge football players.

The first night we made smores with some football players and some Gold Rush cheerleaders...


Heading up to the slopes for our first of two LONG days in the hot sunshine...gotta love Spring skiing...we delayered all day long and ended up with some rosey cheeks.

Josh and Chris enjoying the sunshine and lunch on the patio...they're wearing their swimsuits and they're surrounded by snowy mountains...so beautiful and warm.

A little slopey love of the kids...they did AWESOME and Chase kept up with everyone which was such a blessing!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Spring is in the air...

You can't keep a good woman down...I'm declaring I won't be held down for long. Just as the clouds are trying to fade from this raining day, I too am pushing away the darkness that seems to want to hold all of us in a gloomy place. Taking captive our joy, motivation and excitement for what life has to offer each day. I refuse to allow the darkness to capture me, the wellspring of joy God has grounded deep in my heart and the sunshine I want to exude...

I'm not one to doubt God. I believe I've been given a very precious gift of being a doubt-less person. I understand many experience their "Doubting Thomas" times. For some reason, when God made me, he didn't give me that gene. Maybe its my lack of daddy-ness here on Earth that has caused me to stay close by my heavenly Father's side. I have no doubt that if/when I stray just a few feet away from God, I will fall and get hurt. When life is overwhelming and I think I can't bear much more, I never doubt God is not right beside me. As I reach up to my Abba, He scoops me up in His heavenly arms and holds me tight, caressing my head and telling me it'll all be okay because He loves me so much.

Dr. Phil says we all have a handful of "LIFE DEFINING MOMENTS". Things like family deaths, bearing children, major home/job shifts and other monumental episodes in our lives. These moments define who we are based on how we responded to what was happening and how we move on/heal from those times. I believe these past 2 months may become one of my "LIFE DEFINING MOMENTS". The way I've been dealing is to put my nose to the grindstone and get working...don't let up, look up or breathe until the work at hand is completed. I was always aware of those around me not receiving the usual Allison aroma, I prayed for those around me and the situation at hand and in the end, I never doubted God's hand in it all and that this is a season He has planned for me and season's always pass.

Spring is in the air...baseball has started which warms my heart immensely, friends are coming in for coffee and I woke up this morning for the first time with my children in almost 2 weeks and I felt joy again. Like most, I have people in my social circles fighting deadly illnesses, losing their jobs and doubting God...I pray I can be a rock for those and invite them to dip into the wellspring of joy God has grounded deep inside of me.

SONG: This is my theme song for my season...listen and be encouraged!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Closed for maintenance...

I think I'm closed for maintenance...its a change of season in Allison-land and there's not much to see or talk about. I've become a 5am-1 pm barista. I'm usually at the gym at that dark time of the morning but now I'm training employees on how to open Boulevard Coffee. I don't get much sleep. As my sweet friend told me, the Baptist wiskey helps a lot...I already discovered it and have faithfully taken my Ny-Quil every night for 2 weeks so I can make the voices and lists stop running in my brain. The season is a blessing but I have little energy to chat, fold laundry, find an ounce of creativity to make dinner and what energy I do have, I give it all to my neglected wee ones who cling to me every chance they get. Lucky Sailor has been home sick all week from school so she's been getting lots of much needed mommy time.

Check back after the season has changed...