Tuesday Is For Updates

1. We have strawberries! Woo hoo!
(I decided to not take a picture of the torn up cauliflower and cucumber plants that my dogs maimed when they got into the "garden" in our backyard. I'm trying to focus on the positive... :) )

2. Last summer I tried makes some homemade bread from the Pioneer Woman's website and it turned out not so great. Last night I tried it again and it was much better! Victory! This time it acutally rose, was not dense and heavy and cooked evenly, since I cooked it in the dutch oven I got for my birthday last year. And, it was really simple, which is always a plus. I'll definitely be making it again!

3. Only 5 1/2 weeks left of school! WOW. Some days (actually, who am I kidding--it almost fluctuates from minute to minute these days!) I am SO ready for school to be out because some of my kids are SO over school and are making me crazy, and other days I feel like I don't have nearly enough time to teach them all they still need to know before we send them off to high school. I'm trying really hard to focus on the hard working ones, the ones who want to learn, like this little girl, who was so into the story she was writing, she ended up sliding out of her chair and writing as she knelt down by the table. So cute.

4. Both of our KIVA people got their loans completed last week! I'm excited because I thought it was going to take a long time since it looked like they both had a lot left to get. So, that makes me think there's a lot of people lending on KIVA, which is really cool! I'm excited to start getting updates on how their busineses are going!

5. Our Galveston triathlons are coming up this weekend! I'm excited and anxious about it--mostly the swim--but kinda just ready for it to be here. And, I think Landon feels kinda the same way about the Half-Ironman (except he's not stressed about the swim so much, haha!). How cool though that after this weekend he'll be an Ironman 70.3.

Also, we found out that there's a 60% chance of rain for my race, so that should be fun. I'm just hoping it doesn't get cancelled or something.

6. I've got some giveaway/fundraising ideas in the works--both for on the blog and in real life that we're excited about! Check back later this week/early next week for the first one! I'm still ironing out some details, but they're coming!

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6. And, I have some prayer requests for anyone out there reading this--

* Julie Whaley--a friend of mine who used to go to church with us just got diagnosed with breast cancer and it doesn't look good. Apparently the doctors said it is an agressive cancer and spreading more quickly than they thought. She's about to begin chemo and radiation. Please keep her and her husband and they're three little girls in your prayers.

*my school. It needs some big changes--and I'm just going to leave it at that. It just makes me sad for the kids going here though, because it's chaos and there's so much they're missing out on.

* Landon's friends--we ran into one of Landon's friends from high school the other night and found out that her husband has cancer and lost his job as an engineer because of it. I can't even remember their names, but they've just been on my heart--and God knows who they are.