Ohio Summer 2009

We visited our grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins in Ohio. Here are a few highlights.

When Lightning Strikes

Every Sunday after church, we go to my parent's house for the most amazing lunch and a time to catch up as a family. Yesterday was no different. We had an amazing meal (Mel's last with us before her wedding) and were starting to get that "I-ate-so-much-I'm-going-to-crash" feeling. We were all standing in the kitchen (with dad on his crutches- broke his leg last week) when all of a sudden the brightest white light I have ever seen flashed and a LOUD CRASHING SOUND boomed, provoking all the women to scream! This very loud sound triggered the fire alarm and the alarms of other vehicles in the neighborhood. It was insane!! So, seeing as my dad was hopping around on two lightning rods, I volunteered to check the outside of the house while Doug checked the computer/electronics. I was walking outside when Doug joined me and we noticed something- the double garage door was warped! Lightning definitely struck my parents' house, and thankfully we were all standing in the kitchen and not touching anything. It exited through their garage, which in turn blew out their electronic garage door opening system. It was crazy! Let's just say we weren't feeling that stuffed-and-tired-needing-a-nap feeling anymore. Neighbors came over to see if we knew where it hit because their alarms went off too! What an afternoon...

ZuMbA!!!!

I have a new hobby, and I LOVE it: ZUMBA! Zumba is an aerobic workout that combines international dance moves, kickboxing, and hip hop for an intense (and amazing!) cardio workout. The best part is that it is so fun, you don't even know you're working out! In fact, every time I go to class at the Y, time flies by! If you're interested in joining a Zumba class near you, simply go to zumba.com and you can find a local class to join. "Ditch the workout- join the party!"

"We're not in Kansas anymore!"

We got back from a wonderful weekend in Hillsboro, KS (so cute!) celebrating Mindy's graduation and Mona's birthday. Here's a quick picture of Mona, Mindy, and me at Mindy's graduation party. I'll post more later on...

We're off to see the wizard...

Okay, so maybe not to see the wizard necessarily, but we are going to Kansas tomorrow. We're going to see Doug's sis graduate from college! Pray that we don't go crazy on the road trip- we've never been on a road trip together (just us two) longer than 2 hours and this one will be almost 8. I'll post pictures when we get back.

My Dad, the Graduate

My dad graduated from seminary yesterday! It was a very big day for him and our family. Here are a few pictures for those who couldn't be there.

My Hubby's Disappearing!

Doug and I made a "lifestyle change" after this past Christmas and decided to start eating healthy and getting active (with some help from the Wii Fit). Since December 30, 2008, Doug's lost nearly 50 pounds! (I've lost 31.7 as of now, but I'm not posting a picture until I hit my goal...) Here's the picture I took of Doug two days ago for V7 website. Way to go, Honey!

Take Your Fish for a Walk

Okay, so I know I haven't posted in a REALLY LONG time, but I couldn't resist this one.

As a child, I used to walk whatever pet I had at the time around our block since we didn't have a dog. My best friend and I put a dog harness and leash on her bunny. The best one though, was when the two of us took our small turtles (about 5" diameter) and tied yarn around their shells to make leashes. We then proceeded to walk around the block with them. Our turtles took ten steps, then we took ten large "people steps" until we finished walking around our half mile block.

But, I was never as crazy as this guy!

October 7, 2008- Three Years

October 7th marked three years since Doug's first wife, S, passed away. Please be in prayer for her parents, brother/sis-n-law, Doug, and his family as they go through this time of remembering and sadness. Please pray that God would continue to work mightily in their lives, as they each continue to work through this grieving process. Pray that they would see the amazing HOPE that is found in Christ, and be reminded of His sovereignty despite difficult circumstances. It is with great anticipation that I look forward to the day when I will get to meet her- my sister in Christ- in heaven, and praise His name together!

The Dangers of Page-Turning

A couple weeks ago, I joined a community/city choir that rehearses at a large church downtown. Being a newcomer, I was asked if I read music and would be willing to turn pages for the piano accompanist once every two months. Naturally, I said "yes." I had no idea it could be such a dangerous job.

I arrived at rehearsal last night at 6:45 so that I could meet the pianist (she's amazing!) and get situated before our 7pm rehearsal. As usual, rehearsal began with our director at the piano for warm-ups. Once he was done, I made my way to the front of the room. Rather than navigate between the chairs that were blocking the side pathway to the piano, I stepped in the hallway to re-enter the room near the piano. There was another lady in the hallway. She was waiting to enter as well. She had a t-shirt that said "Camp Alexander" which caught my attention. She entered the room first and I followed, only to realize that she was walking straight for the piano too. The pianist had beat us both, and she looked at us and glared. ("What are you looking at me for? I am supposed to be here!" was my thought.) I politely told the lady that I had been asked to turn pages. At this point, I witnessed (VERY up close and personal, might I add) a very scary sight. This late-60's aged woman got nose-to-nose with me and said "I will be turning the pages!" to which I replied "Oh- I had just received a phone call asking me to turn pages today." At this point, she got even more scary- "I have been turning her pages for FOURTEEN YEARS!" (Meanwhile, all 100 choir members were watching and listening- with wide eyes.)

I looked at her in disbelief thinking "You have got to be kidding me! It's all yours, lady!" I picked up my belongings and proceeded to sit with my section. No sooner had I left the piano that the board members (yes, this choir has board members- the choir started in the 1970's) all stood up. As soon as I was seated, the head board member asked every one to "Please stick with your section leader and evacuate the room. They will do a head count of their sections once everyone has left the room."

What?! Evacuate the room? Well, the little man who was next to me kept talking about a bomb (um, BOMB?) and everyone was grabbing their belongings and booking it out of the room. Once we were out and down the hallway (it's a long hallway), one of the board members stopped us to explain what was going on. Apparently, my "friend" had been asked to leave the choir and told not to return last year, or else the police would be called. She had made threats againsts various choir members and written nasty letters. They said she had a mental problem (NO JOKE!). She had been known for going ballistic one more than one occassion, and had threatened to attack.
Since there was a large concert going on in the sanctuary of the church, they decided to evacuate all of us from the room and leave a few board members in the room to try to talk her into leaving so that they didn't have to call the police.

All I know is that after 10 minutes in the hallway, they took us all back to our rehearsal room, and I was asked once again to turn pages. I never knew that turning the pianist's pages could be such a dangerous job!

A year ago today...

Time flies when you're having fun!

I love you, Honey! This has been the most amazing year, and I can't wait to see what God has in store for our future!

The Royal Gorge

We went to the Royal Gorge with my aunt, uncle, & cousins from Ohio along with my parents. (Sorry you had to work, N!) We walked across the bridge, rode the train, hiked, went to the petting zoo, rode the red cable car, and had an awesome time this weekend! We miss you Lee family!

Camping June '08

We went camping the first weekend in June up at Estes Park. While we were there, we visited the Stanley Hotel, where the movie The Shining was filmed. We had some great weather and a beautiful tent site. We were with our friends L & D and they brought their dog, Ginger. We also brought our two dogs, which was a little crazy at times. It was a ton of fun!

N's Graduation

I know, this has taken forever. Here are some pics of my sis' HS graduation. She's all grown up! Doug got to read her name as she walked across the stage to get her diploma.

Introducing the Prestonator

Last week we got another dog! His name is Preston and he is a 7 month old mini schnauzer. He and Bailey (our standard schnauzer) are best friends already. They play together, chew bones together, play tug-of-war, and sleep together. Enjoy the pictures! (Thank you again for Preston, Todd & Suzy!)

Happy 18th Birthday, Little Sis!

It's amazing how fast my amazing "little" sister has grown-up! (Seven years younger yet seven inches taller!) She is one of my best friends and I am so proud of the godly woman she has become.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Kiddo!

My Birthday in Breckenridge

Family Pic (minus Doug)

This family pic (Doug's taking the picture) was from my dad's birthday last month. Thought it was a good current one to post.

The dog formerly known as Schnauz.

Doug told me that we could adopt a dog for my birthday (an early present)! We've been wanting to for a while but couldn't due to the rules at the rental where we were living. So Friday, we drove out of town to a humane society shelter and adopted the dog formerly known as Schnauz. (I know, the shelter had such an original name for her!) She is a one year old standard schnauzer who is just the cutest thing ever! She is a wonderful dog already: she doesn't bark, is only hyper when you rile her up, can walk on a leash, gets along with all other dogs, and loves to snuggle! The only downfall is that she isn't potty trained since she's basically lived in different shelters her short little life. We just love her! She's been through a lot this past week with lots of shots, microchipping, and now today she'll get spayed, but she's really adjusting well and has only had one accident in the house! We named her Bailey because it sounds Irish. Here is the newest member of our family!

Our New House

Here are a few pictures of our new house. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to rotate the first two pics...

Homeowners!

It's finally official! As of yesterday at 3:45pm, Doug and I are officially homeowners! WOO HOO! We started moving boxes in yesterday (thanks to Mel and Ross) and I am so excited. Of course, it will be great when the whole moving thing is done, but it's fun in its own way as well. I promise to post pictures very soon! (I forgot to take my camera yesterday.) Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement while we went through this process.

Packing and Moving

Our condo is a total wreck! We've been packing like crazy, as we're moving into our new house on Friday, Feb. 29. We close on the house Wed., Feb. 27. (The house inspection went really well!) We are so excited! It's awesome to see how God has worked to bring everything together. I'll be sure to take pictures next week when we are officially homeowners! Thanks for your prayers.

Holding Our Breath...

Sorry for the long hiatus from blogging! We've been very busy with our house hunting. We've been on a three month emotional rollercoaster, but it looks like things are coming together! As of Friday, it looks like the most recent offer we placed on a house was accepted by the sellers! YAY! This is especially good because we love this house more than the other one that we put an offer on, and it is in move-in condition. So now we wait and pray, as the house needs to pass inspection on Thursday afternoon. Our closing date is Feb. 27, so we'll see what happens! Please keep us in your prayers and we try to maintain sanity and get all the details worked out. We know God is in control, though, and that He has a perfect plan!

Let the house hunt begin!

On Saturday, Doug and I got pre-approved for our home loan. Now we 'just' need to find the house. We're hoping to close on our house at the end of January, so hopefully this will be a smooth process for us. We'll start looking at houses tomorrow with our realtor. I've been researching the homes in our area that are for sale for a few months now, so we have some good ideas about what we're looking for. We'll keep you posted!

Dancing Elves

Here are some elves dancing: Nicole, Mindy, and Doug. http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9608698545

(Courtesy of OfficeMax: www.elfyourself.com)

Black Friday Madness!

For those of you who do not know what Black Friday is, it is one of the most wonderful days of the year! It is the day after Thanksgiving, and earned its name because it is considered the day that makes or breaks a store's financial earnings for the year.

It has become a family tradition to participate in the Black Friday shopping frenzy, and this year was exciting! (We missed you, Aunt Cheri.)

Doug and two of his buddies decided they wanted to camp out at Best Buy this year. On Thanksgiving night, my parents drove by Best Buy and saw that there were already 7 tents there and it was only 8pm! So, Natalie and I grabbed the tent (she spent the night with us) and booked it over to the store. We then proceeded to pitch the tent (which I'm sure was hysterical to watch!) while Doug grabbed sleeping bags, etc., at the house. Then, Doug showed up and we sat with him for an hour while his friends made their way over. (Lars came from out of town.) This waiting part was a difficult task in an of itself though, as it was only 15 degrees out side!

Once Lars and Ross showed up, Nat and I headed back and made the guys grilled cheese sandwiches and filled up a container of boiling water and tea, hot chocolate, and cider and took it over, along with a few other things they wanted. All in all, they had blankets, pillows, food, chairs, laptops to watch movies, and a portable space heater! Quite the set up...

Natalie and I went back to my place and slept for 2.5 hours and then got up a 2:30 am and made muffins for the guys. We dropped them off and stood in line at JCPenney which opened at 4am. We were out of JCPenney by 4:20am and made our way up town to SuperTarget where we were numbers 11 & 12 in line and waited till they opened at 6am in the 9 degree weather. We pulled out our camping chairs and flannel comforters and huddled up for the wait. It was good we got there early though, because by the time the doors opened, the line went all the way down the parking lot and had at least 200 people in it! We literally ran down the aisles and grabbed/fought for what we needed. We got everything on our lists!

We also went over to the mall and got a few good deals, although we weren't as impressed with the deals as we were in years past. (I still think the deals in Ohio were always the best!)

At least Natalie didn't get ran over by a crazy lady with a shopping cart like she did last year at Target! Overall, it was a very fun but extremely tiring and cold day! Can't wait till next year. :)

Pictures from the Weekend

Here are some more pics from our little trip to Greeley/Loveland this past weekend (although the first two are from Sunday in front of our door). Enjoy!

"The Amazing Race" ?!?

Okay, so Doug and another high school teacher and friend have decided that they are going to apply for CBS' 13th season of "The Amazing Race." (http://alpha.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race12/) It is so funny because Doug talks about it ALL the time as if he has already been chosen from the thousands of applicants to be on the show! For example, I have heard each of the following statements in the last two weeks, "I'm going to start running to get in shape for when I'm on 'The Amazing Race'," "Are you going to stay at your parents' house while I'm gone for 'The Amazing Race,'" "When Ross and I win 'The Amazing Race' we can buy a house!"

It's cute to see him get so excited about this. I hope he can at least make it to the first round of cuts in Dallas. Today in the CSCS chapel, they are going to tape the whole high school cheering for them for their application video. Doug even started a Facebook group called "Tharp and Bray for The Amazing Race." I think it has about 125 members already.

There application is due Nov. 27, so I'll keep you guys posted if I here anything. I just hope Doug doesn't get his hopes crushed; but at the same time- I think its great to be excited!

Lindsey's Wedding

One of Doug's best friends growing up got married last weekend. We drove up to Windsor for the weekend to be there and attend her wedding. We had a great time and were able to see some other friends too. (Plus, we stayed in a great hotel with the most comfortable bed EVER!)
Lindsey's wedding was a wonderful worship service to God. Lindsey is a strong Christian, who has been called to minister to "hippies" at Rainbow Gathering meetings, etc., with a group of Christian hippies. She had a beautiful wedding and wore a traditional wedding gown (I was expecting something more hippy-ish).

Lindsey and her husband Kenny shared their first kiss ever in their ceremony. It was cute because her bridesmaids stood around her and held their flower bouquets in front of Lindsey and Kenny's faces so that they could have a 'private' first kiss.

It was such a wonderful and relaxing weekend away from the hustle and bustle of our crazy everyday schedules. It was also a great reminder that no matter how busy life gets, Doug and I always have to prioritize our time to spend time in the Word and with each other as our top priority.

People Magnets

Doug and I have an uncanny ability to attract the strangest of people into our conversations. We will be out and about, minding our own business and talking between us, and lo and behold, some stranger will magically appear and butt into our conversation.

Yesterday afternoon we had what was perhaps our strangest experience yet.

We were walking through Target, looking at the mens' sports apparel (go, Rockies!). Doug mentioned something to me about hanging out with another teacher during sixth period (their free period), when this lady appears (no clue where she came from) and starts making comments about how he sounds like her son and that he should be in class and paying attention. At this point, I turned around and told her he IS the teacher and that it is his free period.

And that, my friends, was where I messed up. Because I spoke to this lady, she felt the need to continue in conversation with us. And she didn't stop. Naturally, she hit on Doug's #1 pet peeve and said, "I can't believe you're a teacher! You look young enough to be my son!"

Doug and I were in shock, as she followed us through the mens' sportwear department, down the aisle, past the children's clothes ("I think my son can get one more year out of his snow pants!"), and almost to the home furnishings- all the time talking! I didn't think we'd be able to get rid of her- AND we were ignoring her the whole way. So here we are, just walking down the aisle through various departments, with some strange woman following us, having a one-way conversation about all kinds of things. CRAZY! (We finally lost her in boys clothing, and promptly made a beeline for the grocery section!)

Doug and I have commented many times about all the strange people who like to butt into our conversations, like the time we met Christian at Starbucks (I think he was high…), who made me read a passage from the Bible about the Prov. 31 woman to the entire coffee shop (ironically, I saw Christian three more times at different Starbucks across town), or the little old white man who tried to convince us that we (the human race) were once entirely black, or the woman who came out into the parking lot at the mall and asked me what I did with her car; BUT- we've never met anyone as crazy as this woman, who followed us all the way through Target. We must be people magnets...

A Busy Life

Lately, we have been very busy! That is why I haven't been updating my blog like I would like. Two weeks ago, we went camping for the weekend at Horsetooth Reservoir with three other couples that Doug was good friends with in college. We had a great time, even though we both got sunburnt! The weather was wonderful, and it was a relaxing weekend.

Last week was Doug's birthday (on Labor Day). I suprised him and took him to Breckenridge for a couple days. We got to see the 20th annual Rubber Duck Race down the river, which was neat. There were over 10, 000 ducks! (We had never heard of it before.) We also got to ride the chair lift at the ski resort and go down the Alpine Slide which was really fun.

This past weekend, we cleaned and got our new furniture delivered. Our new furniture meant that our coffee table didn't work in the living room, which meant that we practically re-arranged the whole house! We also went to the high school soccer game and a suprise birthday party for a friend. Last night, we kicked off the kids' choir musical and had a GREAT turnout. 91 kids are registered so far, with more to come. I have almost half of the kids registered between the three choirs, with 40 of them in my choir alone! I'm very thankful for my volunteer helpers!

So, that's what we've been up to lately. I'll try to get some pictures posted one of these days.

"Christmas in Egypt"

I'm so excited about directing kids' choir this year at church! We are going to do a full-out Christmas musical called "Christmas in Egypt" by Kathie Hill. Children ages 4 through the sixth grade will be participating. (I am directing the 1st through 3rd graders.)

Please be praying that we get a sufficient number of volunteers as rehearsals begin on Sunday, Sept. 9. We are changing things up this year. We used to have choir on Wednesdays from 5:45-6:30, and now we are going to meet on Sundays from 6-7:30. This is the first kids musical we've done at Village Seven Pres. We will be working with a guy who has been doing kids' musicals for over 16 years.

I'll keep you all posted throughout the next few months as we practice, learn dance choreography, and sing our hearts out.

The World Of Facebook

I know, I know- I'm a little behind the times. I just joined the Facebook community. I must say though, it is pretty neat how a website can allow people who haven't talked in many years (and maybe never really knew each other) to catch up on life. (I'm not exactly sure that the 'catching up' goes very deep, but it is 'catching up' nonetheless.) I mean really, how else would you come across that old friend from middle school and find out that he is working for a law firm in China?

So, if you have a Facebook account, be sure to look me up and add me to your friends. Also, I've heard that the group "Tharping it up 24/7" is pretty cool, too! :)

Professional Wedding Pictures

My photographer, Brad Walters (www.bradwaltersphoto.com), met with us yesterday to show us a slideshow of all 506 of our wedding pictures. If you would like to check them out, here's the link: http://bradwaltersphoto.com/NicoleDougWed/index.html. (Don't try to order pictures just yet, as that part hasn't been activated yet.) Brad's assistant for the day was Diane from Apex Images in Denver (http://www.apeximages.com/). They both did a great job! Thanks guys!