A Life on Hold

That's what I feel like right now. Like my life has been on hold for the last month. A month ago I sprained my left shoulder at work, and life has been crazy ever since. I had my last appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon this morning, and I am pretty much healed. It's been a long month of physical therapy and not being able to lift anything over 5 pounds for about three weeks, but I am finally back to full strength and range of motion! Praise the Lord- no surgery!!!

In the meantime, I've had a couple crazy weeks at work, and had the flu this past weekend- no fun!!! It's been forever and ever and ever since I've updated this, I know. But the above pretty much summarizes what is going on around here. Oh yes, and my most exciting announcement (ok, second only to the fact that my fiance will be here in 28 days for Fall Break!) is that autumn has arrived in Ohio and it is beautiful!! I am so excited!!!! This will probably be my last fall in Ohio for the foreseeable future, so I plan to enjoy it as much as I can. Enjoy the apples, corn mazes, football, colorful trees, and crunchy leaves wherever you may be!

Music!

I am attempting to add some spice to the blog with some music.....Let me know what you think!

Sunsets on a Friday Night

Hello again from my little corner of the internet. Sadly, my neglected corner of the internet. I know, it's shameful.

So what have I been up to? Well, so glad you asked! You're bored aren't you?
I found an amazing wedding photographer. She is so incredible that I cannot wait for my wedding to get here just for the pictures. She has a wonderful photojournalistic style, so I won't have those same old posed pictures, but I'll have pictures that truly bring out the personality of the entire wedding and wedding party. And believe me, we do not lack personality! No sir. We are all crazy, but the sane people never have fun, so we'd rather be crazy methinks. :)

I also found THE dress. You know, the wedding gown that I've dreamed of, oh, all my life. It's so pretty! I can't wait for you all to see it, but you will have to wait, because a certain prospective groom faithfully stalks this site and we can't have him seeing the dress early now can we?? No, we can't!

I've been working at the daycare. I love my little kiddos. They are the cutest kids in the world, hands down. From Varsh who is my sweetie to James who is our little "peanut" to Kaden who is an adorable little monkey that just looks like a boy (just kidding, he is a boy, but wow can that kid climb!), they are so precious. I love the hugs and kisses and coloring pages and love and crazy question and everything. They bring a smile to my face just to think about them.

I've also been trying to do pilates several times a week. It's working pretty well. I love pilates and of course, never had the time at college to do it, so I'm definitely doing it now. Very relaxing and stretching at the same time. Actually, I should be doing it now, but I'm not. Shame on me.

I am however, sitting on my porch, watching the sunset and the moon appear. Listening to the neighbor's lawn mower and crickets and birds and the donkey braying. Yeah, that last one is really weird and I don't think I've ever heard that around here before, but either someone out in this neck of the woods got a donkey, or someone has a very sick dog. I'm leaning towards the donkey hypothesis.

In the past few weeks:
I've spent some time at Dawes with Grace. I went shopping at JC Penny Outlet (amazing store, every town needs one) with mom and Tammy. Done a lot of listening to books on CD on my commute to work. It makes the drive so much faster and I don't feel like I'm wasting time. Oh, and I've talked a lot on the phone. To my fiance. Because I miss him. I think he misses me too, either that or he's really good at pretending to miss me. I get to see him for the first time since May 9 in t-minus 3 weeks. Yep, 3 weeks from yesterday. Then one blissful, busy weekend and he's off to North Carolina. :( Sad, sad story. I've applied for health insurance. By myself! I'm a big kid now! I'm going through insurance privately instead of through work. Long story, but I feel very grown up and a little scared about that. I also have kept a budget for one whole month so far. I feel very happy about that, ignoring the fact that I probably will not do so well all the time.

In the weeks ahead:
I need to get a birthday present for the above-mentioned fiance. Again, no, I'm not telling you what I'm going to get him. I also need to enjoy the rest of the summer that is flying by. I need to get a semblance of tan. Ok, I don't need to, but I would like to. (funny story: I sat outside in the sun for an hour on my lunch break a week ago and because I was wearing ankle socks and capris I had a tan on my legs that went from just below the knee to right above the ankle. Very embarrassing and my mother laughed at me.) I need to trust God more and stop worrying. I need to drink more water, though I am getting better about it. I need to try to keep from getting caught up in workplace drama- it's so bad it makes dorm life look like paradise. I need to savor each moment and enjoy life more. I need to catch up with friends I haven't talked to all summer. I need to do a lot of things, but I'll stop boring you.

Anyway, enjoy your sunsets on the Friday evening. Mine is lavender right now and makes me think that sight has to be one of the greatest blessings we have. What color is your sunset tonight? Enjoy it, wherever it may be.

Holding My Horses

Cute moment from the 2 year olds at the day care where I work:

I was serving afternoon snack to the adorable little kids sitting at the table. As I was getting the vanilla wafers and apple juice together, as well as corralling the stray kids and getting cups out and a million other things, Emerson said, "I want some juice!"
I told her, "You'll have to hold your horses, Emerson. I'll get it in just a second, ok?"
A couple minutes later, as I began to pour apple juice into the cups, Ethan piped up in his angelic little voice, "Miss Holly, I'm holding my horses."

So adorable! He had no idea what it meant, but he wanted to show me he was being good. I love those kids.....most of the time.... ;-)

God Bless the USA

This song always makes me cry when I hear it. I am proud to be an American, and I am so proud of the men in my life who have served our country: my great-grandpas, my grandpas, my dad, my cousins (one of whom will ship out to Iraq within a few weeks), and friends that I know. I am so thankful to God for the free country I live in and for those who help to keep it free.

"And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA."

Happy 4th of July.....from our home to yours!

Links, Links, Links!

Here are some new links for y’all:

Our official wedding website: http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/HollySkinner&AndrewMinion

A website Andrew and I have created for wedding plan posting and beyond:
http://andrewandhollyminion.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

Building Castles

I wrote this one day last semester about the danger of making our own plans without consulting God first...

“I built a castle one day. It was a magnificent construction. Each stone so faultless and so perfectly aligned. There was no flaw in my castle. I polished each stone and cherished every part. I knew exactly what dimensions that castle needed to be. Nothing could mar my castle. I imagined what it would be like completed, and how everyone would be so stunned at my outstanding creation.

One day, it was completed. It was a lofty structure, far above anything that could harm it, I was sure. Yet, as I surveyed my castle, I realized that sketched across the entire building was my name, written in bold, brash letters for all the world to see. Why shouldn’t it be there, I thought. After all, it is my creation. No one else should have any part of my castle.

Then, in a horrifying instant, I realized that there was One who did have access to that castle, for He rules all of the castles that we humans attempt to build. Slowly, before my eyes, he began to take apart the walls I had constructed. It was painful to watch those stones that I had carefully carved and polished come crumbling apart. It hurt, and I shed tears as I watched it disintegrate into a heap of useless rubble.

Then that One and I wrestled for the blueprints to the castle. He insisted that only He could make it a truly perfect castle. I cried that my dreams could only do. He showed me His plan throughout the ages. I offered up the pitiful successes of my brief life. More tears were shed, by me, and, if I could guess, by Him as well, as we wrestled. Then He just asked if I would simply trust Him. If I would give to Him the pieces of a shattered dream and let Him make a castle that no man could penetrate, that no force of evil could crumble. And, finally, I released the blueprints into His omniscient hand. I gave Him the trust that He demanded in exchange for a truly perfect castle. I gave my broken walls to the Rock of Ages and let Him make them whole.

I don’t know what that castle will look like. Do I want to know? Oh yes. But trust doesn’t mean only in the sunlight. Trust means stepping in the dark and allowing Him to guide me. You know what I’ve discovered? I don’t have to know what the castle will look like, I just have to know the Builder.”