Life Lately

'Tis the season to completely neglect your blog...fa la la la la...

Here are some highlights of the happenings here at the Coles' since Halloween.

I painted and applied a cute design to our lazy susan.  Crafting doesn't come easy to me, but it sure is rewarding when my project turns out just as I envisioned it.

Our little Elsa and strong army guy at Halloween this year.

The weather was perfect for trick or treating.  Sam wanted to go with his neighborhood friends and Lena with her's, so Rich and I split up and tackled the neighborhood with the kids' chosen trick or treat mates.  It was a fun night!

Sam went to work with me one beautiful fall day to hang out while the teachers were having an in-service day at school.  He loved being downtown and thought my office was cool.  Lol.  I loved having him with me. 

We had a little birthday gathering for Matt at a restaurant near the airport.  Good times with family just can't be beat.

Our last preschool Thanksgiving feast. It made me a little sad at how fast these years are going and so proud at how our kids are growing into awesome little humans.  

We were a little late (for us) this year getting our Christmas decorations up.  But we finally finished on Thursday - Lena added the final touch!

We had an old Christmas wreath whose berries had melted while hanging on our front door at the old house.  I liked the grapevine/pine cone base of it, just needed to get those sad little berries out of there.  So...brace yourselves...I crafted again.  

I cut out all of those melted plastic berries and created the cutest wreath ever!

Just look!  Isn't it beautiful?  I used an idea from pinterest as my guide, because that's how I roll, and was shocked how well it turned out (3 hours later).

I love it!

Thanksgiving at Aunt Nancy's yesterday was so fun!  It's been awhile since we stayed in town for Thanksgiving, so it was extra special.  Spending time with these people, my cousins and aunts and uncles and grandma, well, it was just the best day.  I love my family.  My photos didn't turn out too great, but I did catch a couple of cute moments.

I also had my annual GWA (girls' weekend away) at the beginning of November, but I did not take one photo.  What?  I'm not sure how that happened.  As soon as I snag some from the other girls, I'll post more about that fun weekend.

Hope you're enjoying this holiday season as much as we are!

His and Her Weekends

Last weekend was my annual GWA (girls' weekend away) in the Hocking Hills.  It was the absolute most beautiful weekend.  Warmer temperatures and sunshine every day, crisp and cold nights.  The group of girls this year was phenomenal, and we ate and drank and talked and danced ourselves into oblivion. 

Good times with good people. 

I love GWA.  It fills me up, you know?  Being with those girls in that place invigorates me, and I come back with a renewed sense of purpose, knowing I can be better at all the things that I am, all the things that I do.  If I'm being honest, while those things warm my heart and bring me ridiculous amounts of joy and pride, they can also sap my energy and, sometimes, even my spirit.  But every year, this weekend with these women reminds me that I am strong, and that I can push myself further to be better every day.  Better to myself and better to others.  Because these are strong women who live their lives unashamed and unafraid.  They inspire me to do the same.

Such a precious gift they all are to me...

And this weekend it's Rich's turn.  He and our friend Mark are going on their own weekend away in the Hocking Hills!  They've packed up half our kitchen, mountain bikes, gear and are heading to the Hills tonight.  Their weekend promises to be a little more productive than ours.  Where our weekend is focused on chilling out and visiting, theirs is all about activity.  They plan to bike all sorts of trails and hike and actually do stuff. 

They're such boys.  :)

We are truly blessed, aren't we?  Blessed by wonderful friends, by opportunities to get some time away to recharge, by the respect and understanding we have for each other that allow these weekends and these friendships to happen, by two beautiful fun sweet healthy kids who miss us when we're gone almost as much as we miss them...

Life is good.

Steel Magnolias at GWA

"I find it amusing. Men are supposed to be made out of steel or something..."

- Quote from M'Lynn from Steel Magnolias (referring to the fact that her husband couldn't handle watching their daughter take her last breath, but she could).

This weekend was my annual Girls Week Away (GWA). And once again, I left that gorgeous cabin touched and inspired by those women. All throughout the weekend, that quote from Steel Magnolias rang loudly through my head as I talked with and learned more about my GWA girls.

And let me tell you, they are definitively steel magnolias.

Some of the stories I heard this weekend were unbelievable. I cried a few times, not with tears of pity, but of awe. I heard about childhood traumas, divorce, abuse, children's illnesses, crimes against them, deaths...and all of them have not only survived the shit, but have come out on the other side of it stronger and wiser, doing better to others than what's been done to them.

They are really something to behold. They are down to earth, fun, kind, smart women who are also extraordinary, tough and brave, although it seems many of them need reminded of that.

Maybe they forget how special and important they are. Maybe when a woman has had to fight for every single good thing in her life, when she has had to take care of so many others instead of herself, when she's had to push and battle obstacles just to get one step ahead, when she hasn't had anyone to remind her how beautiful and good and smart and unique and valuable and significant and relevant she is; maybe then she forgets that she is all of those things. And more.

And these women are.

Amy
Becky
Carrie
Shannon
Kayla
Danette
Jody
Vanessa
Shellie
Kimmy
Niki
Savannah
Kim
Carla
Kelly
Molly
Nichole

These girls make me laugh until my side hurts, soften my heart, make me see things from completely different perspectives. They make me feel blessed that they like me as much as I like them.

For some of them, I think I'm the only "regular" Christian woman they've ever met. The only non-judging, down to earth, non-Bible-banging, non-pushy, non-in your face, sinning Christian they might know. Hell, I'm probably in the minority even among other "regular" Christians as far as those attributes go.

But none of them judge me. They treat me like one of the gang. And I love that. If they want to talk about God, then I do. But I don't bring it up.

Though that's not to say that God isn't anywhere to be found at GWA, because he was all over that place this weekend. He was in the faces and smiles and hugs and reassuring words of all of those women, even if they didn't realize it. That's how God works, you know? And he was in the beautiful weather and the fields and hills and trees and the moon and the warm sunshine...I saw an awful lot of him there.

Right there with all of my steel magnolias.

Love you, GWA girls.

GWA

GWA = Girls' Weekend Away.

Five years ago, some close friends decided to make an annual trip to Hocking Hills and rent a cabin in the boonies for a weekend in November. Now it's grown to 16 girls, and I am blessed that they invited me, that I've been able to attend three years now, and that I've gotten to know each and every one of them. I'm proud to call them all my friends.

GWA is a relaxation weekend without kids and husbands and jobs pulling us in different directions. It's a reunion weekend for old and new friends to catch up and laugh and cry and reconnect. It's a celebration weekend where we don't take a moment for granted, where we appreciate each other and ourselves. It's a perfect weekend...

There are dance parties and campfires and drinking and eating and napping and gluttonous behavior in all varieties. It’s just a damn good time.

This year we were in a new, beautiful cabin and had extraordinary weather. The new place is very close to Old Man's Cave, so we decided to go for a hike there on the warm, sunny Saturday afternoon. This place is really something to see, a magnificent display of God’s artistry that he used when he created these rock formations and trees and waterfalls. It was humbling.

Along the path I noticed that there were trees growing out of the rocks. Literally. The roots weren’t anchored in fertile soil where it makes sense that a beautiful tree would grow. They were wrapped around rocks, sprouting up from cold, hard boulders and reaching up to the sky just as perfectly as the trees in the forest did. It proved to me that life…that good prevails against all odds.

And, in my always overly emotional and cheesy way, this reminded me of my friend Nichole. She is the one who invited me on my first GWA and has become one of my favorite people in the world.

Nichole’s childhood wasn’t the worst or most unimaginable. But it was hard. And crazy. And cold. But here she is, a strong, beautiful woman who married a wonderful man and has built a family with him - a loving, warm, compassionate, strong family. Lots of people who have difficult beginnings seem to continue in the same vein, they perpetuate the cycle of crap that surrounded them as kids. But Nichole didn’t. She is smart and strong and found her way out, and has built a happy and healthy life for herself and her kids.

Forgive the utter lame-o cheesiness, but she is that strong, beautiful tree that grew from a rock. And I love her for that.

So that was my GWA this year. I laughed, I cried, I got stuck coming up the driveway, I was (as always) introspective and cheesy, I made new friends, I soaked in my old friends, I thanked God for his blessings, I ate good food, I drank a little wine, I danced, I flashed…



And I rescued a sick kitten. But more about that next time.