Long Time Coming

Two of my favorite people, Mark & Laci, got married this weekend!





Mark and I went to school together from kindergarten to college graduation! He is the roommate I had the longest while at Iowa State. He and Laci (who is also from our hometown) started dating when we were in college. Needless to say, some of my best college memories are with these two! Seven years later, they are now married and Rusty and I went to Leon to celebrate with them on Saturday. (After Border Days, of course!)

Congrats!! Love you guys!


(Side note: Zach was taking money for
the dollar dance. Before I went up,
Rusty asked if I had a dollar. I said no, but I have a $5. He said, "You better get change!" He has got to stop listening to Zach's dad!!)

Border Days

We had a slumber party with Maddox at grandma's house following Friday's graduation. We were up LATE. Especially for Maddox. Around midnight, mom said, "Time for bed." Maddox (as he was reading his Toddler's Bible) said, "I WANT TO READ ABOUT JESUS!" Good for you sweet boy!

He ended up falling asleep without a fight a little later. We were up early for a long, hot, day in the sun. We went to a little league game, then grabbed a quick lunch before going to Border Days. Maddox got to ride in the fire truck in the parade. He blew kisses to the judges stand, helping them earn $8 for a second place finish!

He got some fun in the bounce house and going down the HOT jumbo slide. After a long, hot, sticky day, he was definitely ready to go home.

Thanks for the fun day, Maddox!

Another Graduation

This time, Holly's turn.

































I got to see another one of my "first real job" kiddos graduate!

Going Green

My favorite place to be this summer is here.

Rusty's favorite place to be this summer is here:

Show us where you live: Master Bedroom

UPDATE:

I've painted (again). I'll get new pictures taken soon but here's a sneak peek:

http://601hicksfamily.blogspot.com/2010/01/movers-painters.html

ORIGINAL POST:

Kelly's "Show Us" this week: Master Bedrooms.

Love having drawers in my night stand. It is packed full.
(And yes, we have carpet in the bedrooms. Rusty wanted to carpet the entire house, I wanted wood throughout the house. So we compromised and put carpet in all of the bedrooms.)


Love this one. It is right above where I 'put on' my watch and wedding ring and such a great reminder of what the most important thing to 'put on' each day is.We are looking for a sconce to put on Rusty's side. Love some of the Pottery Barn ones.... anyone know where we can find a cheaper version? :)



The picture on the "live" shelf is just a reminder for me to print the picture I actually want to put in there. I finally put in the order for it yesterday.

Thought it would be fun to hang magazines here.... turns out we don't own any magazines so I had to use catalogs instead... oops.

Rhubarb Crisp

Rhubarb Crisp

In large bowl, mix:
1 C. brown sugar
1 C. flour
3/4 C. quick oats
1/2 C. melted butter
1 t. cinnamon

Put half of crumb mixture in a greased 8"x8" baking dish.
Top with 3 C. (or 4) chopped rhubarb.

In sauce pan, heat until thickened:
1 C. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1 C. water
1 t. vanilla
(I add a drop of red food coloring)

Pour sauce over rhubarb. Top with remaining crumb mixture.

Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes.

Progress

Yes, we are slowly making progress on our house projects....

No, we didn't do any complaining (that I can remember).

No, I don't have anything to blog about tonight.

Yes, I'm only putting up a post to check the DISQUS out.....

Complaining

"Do all things without complaining or disputing." Phillipians 2:13


This is our verse for the week. Can you guess what we are working on? If you said house projects, you win. We started on our summer project list last week (yes, we should have had this verse up then) and our house is in disaster mode right now. We'll see how much of our list we can get done this week. Without. Complaining. or. Disputing.

Update

So I haven't really been updating this blog a lot lately.
I have some excuses though. :)

-I've been enjoying summer break. You know, reading books on the porch swing, summer lunch dates with R (Wok in Motion yesterday.. I'd give it an A-), taking Dakota for walks, cowgirling it up in Alta Vista, eating popsicles, ice cream, and whatever else comes my way.... (J- we need to get on a schedule, ASAP!), and enjoying all the other things that come with summer.

-I've been busy updating my prayer journal at least twice a day right now and don't really feel like blogging afterwards.

-I've been painting. Yes, again. Yes, I know we just painted 6 months ago. We are getting around to finishing our bedroom plus master bath. And yes, I'll be getting around to posting about painting in the near future.

-And I've been reading this book that A loaned to me.

'Mistaken Identity'

Even though I never review books until I'm finished reading them, this one is great (and no, I'm not quite finished but will be today.) I definitely recommend it. It is just a great story of God's faithfulness and a great example of how it is possible to follow him and cling to him when we are suffering.

And speaking of suffering, please still be in prayer for R's student and her family/friends. We will be attending her funeral on Thursday.

Courts of the Lord

Here is an excerpt from my prayer journal today. Please pray for this family with me.





"My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." -Psalm 84:2

Lord, You are good. You are faithful. You are all knowing.

As I sit and read 'Mistaken Identity' it is a great reminder of this. You alone are strong and Your strength lifts up those in need. Those facing the loss of a loved one. Those that are weak.
As these families share their stories, I am reminded that on a day so "normal" for me, it can be so tragic for someone else. I wonder about today. About how my "normal" day of reading on the couch, might be devastatingly different for someone else. I pray for those that are in the midst of a tragic. Not knowing it would be so close. But You know, of course You do.

Lord, I cast my cares on You today. You know about the little girl, my husbands 5th grade student, that so suddenly lost her life today. You knew about this happening so close to me, about my prayers today, about things I knew not.

I pray that you will be with this little girl's family today. With her neighbors, her teachers, her friends. I pray that You will surround each of them with Your love and fill them with a peace that only You can offer.

Lord, I don't know if they know You. But I know You know. And I know You will use this tragedy to lift them up in Your love. I know Your plans are perfect and this is no mistake in Your plan. Lord, I pray that if they do not know You that they will. That they will cling to You, love You, trust in You.

Lord, be near to this family as they are hurting. Be near to her friends, so young, too young. Give them, each of them, the strength that only You can give.

Lord, it's in Your Son's name that I pray all of these things, but most of all, I pray that this little girl is in Your courts today.

Amen

601

I chose our blogspot with the number 601 simply because "hicksfamily" was taken and 601 was the first number that popped into my head.

601 is where we live.

R pointed out to me that 601 is also the address of where we met.

And on 6/01 I got this text from R:
'Just discovered that im ready to a full-time christian i know weird time and place but it was like God was talking 2 me thats the gist of it luv u'


God is good and while life isn't always easy, it's always a blessing. God has been at work in our lives and we are seeing it every day. It's a full-time job for God.

Are we committed to working full-time for Him?

We are called to repent, to turn toward God. In the midst of our crazy, busy lives do we find time to find God? Do we make time to find God?
Do we turn toward Christ not just at church but in everything we do from the time we get up in the morning until the time we go to bed at night?
Do we make a full-time commitment to reorient our lives towards Him, not just for an hour, a day, or a week, but full-time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year?

My prayer today is that God will work in our lives so that we can in-deed be 'full-time.'