I discovered the past few days that writer block has found me and not just found me, but set in like a Colorado winter storm. Then as I was about to toss in the towel thinking I would never see the sun again, I ran across this quote……..

The bane to my existence seems to be that of doubt. When this quote appeared in front of me I decided to do away with doubt in this here blog and try to void it from my daily life. I have found a few techniques that seem to counter doubt in my world…..prayer, friends, laughter, and a splash or 10 of alcohol. A few examples of how I overcome the dreaded ‘D’ word you ask. Ask and you shall receive……. While experiencing life……I have found that with prayer and listening to the small voice deep inside you can get through anything. I have been told more times than I can count ‘Jennifer God never gives you more than you can handle’, and my response ‘I should be able to bench press a Buick at this point with the amount of strength God must think I have’. All kidding aside, prayer has gotten to the place I am today and through a lot of ups and downs. While out on adventure…..I have found that if I scoop up a friend and take them along, it is always more fun. Life seems to be, for me, more fulfilling when I have the opportunity to share it with someone else. While training…..I have found that trying to laugh through my sweat, oh wait that liquid on my face might actually be tears of pain, regardless I laugh. I also try to remind myself that everyone who is an expert or a professional was once a beginner. While shopping……I have found that doing a few shots of tequila before trying anything on seems to make the experience more enjoyable for all parties involved Now that I think about it, everything seems to be a bit better with prayer, a good friend, a great laugh, and a splash of alcohol.

Par 3

I was honored to join a group of incredible golfers for a day of fun at Vail Golf Club over the weekend. After taking golf lessons for a year and a half prior to moving to Colorado and following that up with a few months of indoors lessons this past winter I am reluctant to admit that I have only been on a golf course a handful of times. A sport which a pro once said I was a natural at, yet a sport which provides me massive frustration was very rarely practiced by yours truly. My skills or lack thereof were put on display for Vail Valley this past Saturday. I have to admit I didn’t play every hole; after all I did need to practice my golf cart driving skills as well. Yet, I did play most of the Par 3 holes, got par on one, and a Par 5 here or there.

Mark & Kamron

1) Wow we look a lot alike! 2) Mark can’t possibly be old enough to be getting hitched can he? If so that makes me older than I like to think I am. 3) I am sure glad I went with the pink and grey dress over the white and black stripes; you know what stripes do to a figure. 4) The bags under my eyes don’t give away the secret I have only had 7 hours of sleep in 2 days?

5) Why did I not think to get a spray tan before this shindig? 6) Is it time to eat yet!!

7) Tell me again how Mark is old enough to be getting married; I remember when he was born. 8) If the day should ever come that I get married I am going to skip the whole church thing, way too much stress and tension. I want a day of fun in the sun.

9) I hope when I am in my 50s I will look half as beautiful as she. 10) I am so blessed to have the amazing family I do. 11) Mark is still in diapers, he can’t be getting married!!

They sure make a stunning couple! More pics to come...... Love you Mark!!

Love Deeply!

The older I get the more I realize just how precious life really is. As my family and I were celebrating the marriage of my baby cousin this past weekend, a friend of mine was morning the loss of her mother. I found out early this week that a childhood friend lost her mother in a tragic car accident this past weekend and it caused me pause and forced me to reflect on my own life and the people I hold close to my heart. I am sure Stacey woke up Friday August 2nd, not thinking ‘today is the last day I will be able to talk to my mother, hug her, tell her just how much I love her, watch her love on my daughter, sit back and think how blessed I am to have such a wonderful woman as MY mother. I am sure Stacey went on like most of us with the knowledge that her mother would be there at the end of the day for a regular Friday night phone call. My eyes were opened wide by Kathy’s passing, especially after spending a weekend with my own family, and sadly taking that opportunity of being surrounded by the people I love more than anything for granted. As we travel down this unpredictable road of life I pray that we remember what is most important in life. It is not how large our pay check is, it is not how high we climb on the corporate ladder, the cars we drive, the houses we live in, the clothes we wear, or the extravagant vacations we take. It is about the depth of love we share, the lives we touch, the experiences we take part in, and the memories we make along the way. Let us move forward holding tight to the ones we love, letting people know how much we care, and never losing sight of or taking for granted the things and people in life that bring us joy, comfort, and love. In loving memory of a woman that encompassed life, love, laughter, and above all family and friends you will be deeply missed Kathy Weldon.

Hellooooooo.....

Hello mom! My mother is the one person who might be sitting at the computer waiting patiently for me post something. Wait, who I am kidding even my mother has given up on me, realizing this blog would never be a robust piece of American literature. It has been a long time since I have done this thing called blogging, I didn’t disappear to the far reaches of the earth and I was not abducted by aliens, although I feel like it at times. I have been happily, comfortably, and progressively living in Denver and loving almost every minute of it. Since blogging last I have worked a couple part time jobs, landed a stellar full time job, travel back to Oklahoma more times than I can count, discovered my heart still resides there and possibly always will. I have fallen in love, gotten my heart broken, and am learning to open my heart up again. I have made some extraordinary friends who walk along side me, and at times have carried me. I have played kickball, learned how to race a dragon boat, watched my first pro football game LIVE from a suite, attended numerous pro baseball games, and went camping/hiking in the Rockies for the first time. I have watched winter turn into sring, spring turn into summer, summer into the beautiful color of fall, fall into the peacefulness of fresh snow and back again. There is not a day that passes that I do not sit in complete amazement at how far greater I am blessed than I deserve, and for that I thank God. I pray that this past year+ has given you time to grow, learn, and have experiences. To love, laugh, cry, and rejoice for each new day.

Blessings

As I was working on my last post a song by Laura Story was playing, a song entitled Blessings. I am not one that would typically type out lyrics for a song; however, I felt these lyrics were so moving, so true to life, and very touching. Maybe it was the topic of the last post, maybe it is because I leaning completely on God’s guidance to navigate me through life, whatever the reason I felt it necessary to share this song with you.

We pray for blessings. We pray for peace. Comfort for family, protection while we sleep. We pray for healing, for prosperity. We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering. All the while, You hear each spoken need, yet love is way too much to give us lesser things. ‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops. What if Your healing comes through tears. What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near. What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise. We pray for wisdom Your voice to hear We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near. We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love. As if every promise from Your Word is not enough All the while, You hear each desperate plea And long that we’d have faith to believe When friends betray us When darkness seems to win We know that pain reminds this hear that this is not our home. What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life The rain, the storms, the hardest nights are your mercies in disguise.

Laura Story

The three of us

I question daily if I left my heart in Oklahoma when I moved. I have a sense of peace, comfort, happiness, and love that seems to be unmatched as I fumble through my new life here in a new place. It could be that I have spent most of my adult life in the heartland, it could be that I have so many great memories (I choose to turn the not so great memories into learning experiences so as a result everything in life is a great memory), it could be that my best friends reside in the state of waving wheat, it could be that my family also known as my oxygen calls Oklahoma home, or it could be that a little man so important in to my life, it takes my breath away thinking he is no longer with us in flesh, is laid to rest in the beauty of the plains. Bryce passes away a little over 10 years ago and I can not only speak on behalf of my life but on behalf of our entire family, on March 30, 2002 our lives changed forever. Bryce was so young when our Lord took him home, yet I learned more from his gentle soul, saw more love is his eyes, and experience more happiness flowing out of that little man than I see in most adults. I feel it is such a mild phrase to say he blessed my life beyond compare, but I don’t know how to put into words my love, gratitude, and happiness to have had him in my life, even for such a short time. For years I was not strong enough to go visit Bryce, I suppose I had a lot of unresolved emotions that have been broken into and are being address during this most recent and continuing journey I have been on. So with new found strength and the uncovering of the woman I have always been, simply hiding behind the pain and coping skills I chose in life, I went to visit Bryce.

After a day of rain and clouds Maggie and I arrived at the grave site to a beautiful sunset, I felt Bryce was there with Maggie and I. It was just the three of us, laughing, smiling, taking in the beauty that only appears as colors exit the Oklahoma sunset skies. We enjoying our time with Bryce and taking the time to shoot a few pictures of the gorgeous sunset over the wheat field.

Bryce loved harvest and as the wheat is nearing the harvest point I knew he was there with us in spirit. Little man, I guess not a little man anymore, you would be nearly 17 years old…..I miss you more with each passing day, but I know you would not want any of us to sit here paralyzed in sadness and pain, you would want us to live our lives to the fullest just as you did in your 6 years with us here on earth. I love you buddy!!!