learning.

my summer break, thankfully, allows for rest, recovery, and learning. i can take off my metaphorical teacher hat and do some learning all my own.

i spent time reading this morning, before my husband woke up, a book by mark batterson. this book, the circle maker: praying circles around your biggest dreams and greatest fears, has been and is the perfect way to start my summer. shane and i both believe that this summer is going to be one of great changes, and we are trusting that God is present in the dreams and fears we are working to tackle this summer and beyond.

i want to encourage you to read the book, and i want to share with you some things i've gleaned from the early chapters.

batterson encourages readers to "intercede until God intervenes." isn't that good? prayer, he says, has the power to change things, the power to save a generation, and even affect the course of history. 

intercede until God intervenes.

prayer has the "power to resurrect dead dreams and give them new life." i know there are dreams you've given up on. because you've pursued a dream and failed, even multiple times, does not mean that prayer can't revive that dream. resurrection, says batterson, is central to the christian faith. God is the father of resurrection. why couldn't he breathe new life into your once-forgotten dream?

do not settle for small dreams that don't require divine intervention. don't go after dreams that don't require prayer.

ephesians 3:20-21

"now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory..."

my apologies.

my apologies for our absence. the last month of school is typically torture, and this year was no different. shane and i have both been busy beyond belief (notice the alliteration -- just wrapped up an awesome poetry unit with my ninth graders, forgive me [again]).

somewhere within the last month, beth and dylan visited. our time with them was much needed and provided an awesome break from the chaos that is may.

we said goodbye to our friends for another year, but our fingers were crossed behind our backs in hopes that we can see them again before another full year passes.

our week in pictures.

have i told you lately how much i love this guy of mine?

i may have complained a bit in recent days about how itchy the beard had become. husband graciously offered to wave goodbye to the destruction left by no-shave november. it has been five months, after all.

look at that baby face.

we spent easter weekend with family. so happy to spend some time with our eleven month old nephew, kale. i see two bottom baby teeth poking through.

in case you're counting (i know we are), the dicharrys arrive in sixteen days. 

six-teen-days!!! 

we're going to pack as much as we can into their week-long visit. i think we're most looking forward to the black keys concert, but i know there are going to be a lot of good times in our very near future. 

we'll have some good old hometown fun and journey to tulsa and probably kansas city and lawrence, too. it's likely to be the best week ever. 

high:low number four.

we're a bit late with our most recent high:low, but it's better late than never. and, what's kind of cute is that our high:low entries are more or less identical. how adorable are we?

shane
high: saturday i got to spend some time with my beautiful wife. it felt like it had been forever since we'd had some quality one on one time. we went to tulsa for some shopping, a matinee, and had our first experience at cherry berry. if you haven't been, you need to find one soon and indulge.

low: taxes suck. enough said.

rene
low: we had our taxes done last week and were beyond shocked to find out we owe an obscene amount of money. like, more than our combined monthly income. here's to an obscene amount of ramen in our future.
high: ah, saturday. in and of itself, saturday outshines every other day of the week... always. this saturday, though, was really sweet. my hubby and i saw the hunger games. shane loved the movie -- i was so relieved seeing as i had created a lot of hype after reading the books. we enjoyed some cherry berry frozen yogurt together and then did some shopping. i was on a mission for a few new super cute outfits. i've got to look good for bethany's visit. hehe. shopping was a success, and saturday, overall, was lovely.

spring break. day five.

backwoods critters pet shop. 

this. made. my. day.

spring break. days three and four.

days three and four of spring break looked eerily similar. a lot of time was spent finishing the hunger games trilogy. and, because of the obscene amount of rain we've gotten this week, there was no better place to read than cuddled up in our bed. 

shane all but demanded that i take a break from reading yesterday in order to meet him for lunch. we met at our favorite chinese restaurant only to be shooed away. apparently, the eatery closes at one. what kind of restaurant stops serving lunch at one pm? we got our wanton fix today, though, when shane picked up chinese takeout for lunch. he's good like that.

hours spent in our bedroom reading this week forced me to face the tough reality that i've killed yet another house plant. what was once a beautiful plant is now nothing more than bare twigs. still, i refuse to give up. maybe i'll add potting a new houseplant to tomorrow's to-do list, a list that thankfully no longer includes the daunting (yet enjoyable) task of finishing the hunger games.

happy spring, friends! 

spring break. day two.

today i gave in and started the second book in the hunger games trilogy. i'm twenty-three chapters in and will, more than likely, finish the book later tonight. in between chapters i did laundry and some other miscellaneous cleaning. but, in between each check on my to-do list, i managed to cram in a few chapters. it was a great day!

my first task of the day was starting dinner. i added a generous amount of salt and pepper to a pork shoulder and put it on a bed of onions in my slow-cooker. i topped the pork with two cans of chipotle peppers in adobe sauce and two cans of dr. pepper. the pork cooked on low for eight hours, filling our little place with the best smell imaginable. once the pork was cooked through and super tender, i shredded it and topped it with jalapeno coleslaw and cilantro. the sandwich was delicious and a nice change from the typical pulled pork sandwich we top with barbecue sauce. the sandwich was inspired by a pioneer woman recipe. if you haven't tried her recipes yet, get after it. you'll thank me.

while we loved dinner, we wanted to marry dessert. we ate monkey bread to our hearts' content while watching the shawshank redemption. when i was elbow deep in cinnamon and sugar and making the gooey concoction, i got a phone call from a close friend telling me that she and her husband are expecting their first baby! baby news always trumps dessert, and i couldn't be happier for our friends.

oh, oh! another great bit of news: there's a very likely chance that we might be seeing the black keys next month when beth and dylan are stateside. eager beavers are we!