The Hook Up

So there have been a few sites that I have been enjoying/visiting lately that I thought I would pass on to anyone who is interested.

The first is the blog for my friend (and wedding photographer) Shelley. On it you will see a few of the photo's she took for our engagement photo's. You should also check out the website for Summerset studio's photography. She is really good at what she does. I love to look at her photo's and see how she captures the personality of the people she is photographing as well as the scenery around them.

The second is a blog of a person I only met once. His name is Derek. He and I sang at a wedding together in Idaho for our mutual friends Bryan and Judy. Although I didn't get to know him or his wife, Shannon, very well I remember being impressed with how kind and authentic they both seemed to be. A few months back Bryan e-mailed his friends to pray for Derek and his family (he and his wife have two young girls) as he has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and gave us the link to Derek's Blog where he chronicles his journey with the cancer. As many of you know my dad was diagnosed with a similar form of Lymphoma a few of years ago, he has now been cancer free for a couple of years. I feel like much of this blog captures the thoughts and feelings my dad, and my other family members experienced during the time he had cancer. It is a powerful testimony of the emotional, spiritual, and physical ups and downs experienced by people with cancer. So I encourage you to read about his experience, and to lift Derek and Shannon up in prayer as he continues to fight off the cancer.

The last link is to a humorous wedding related blog. My friend Nick told me about it. It is called "You may Kiss the blog". This woman is a great writer, and she blogs about her experiences in planning her wedding. I found her entries to be hilarious, and think that even if I wasn't currently planning my own wedding that I would get a kick out of her blog.

Unforgettable

So another year of my life has passed, and so far being 27 has been fun.

On Saturday Mark surprised me by taking me to Duluth for the day. I hadn't been there since I was about 4 years old, so it was really fun to see it again. Sadly the 70, 80, and 90 degree weather we had been enjoying last week had left and it was a chilling 55ish degrees out, so instead of playing track ball on the boardwalk we went to the Duluth aquarium.



We had a lot of fun there despite the fact that they really did not have many fish to look at...and those that they did have were things like lake trout. I did however get to pet a fresh water sting ray...which was a first for me.

Then the big surprise was that Mark had booked us on a dinner cruise. It was so fun. The food was delicious and the scenery was amazing. I am not a huge lover of swimming, and being in the water...but I am a big fan of being near the water. In California Melanie, Tanja and I would frequent Santa Cruz, and Carmel just so we could relax on the beach. And in Michigan I lived minutes from a beautiful beach on Lake Michigan so it felt good to just be by a large body of water and enjoy the calm and peaceful impact it has on me.

Then last night some of my friends from Bluer gathered to celebrate. I had so much fun eating delicious cake, and laughing (very hard I must add) with this wonderful group of people. I just can't help but feel the need to let them know how very thankful I am to have them in my life.

oh...and for all you non-bluer friends...I am thankful for you too.