over the river and through the woods

Sunday morning: I went to church today and did NOTHING! It felt good. Of course, I was listed in the bulletin as a soloist for the day, but when I woke up with a swollen throat, I threw in the towel. Kevin did a great job preaching this morning. He gets better and better each time he does it. I can see a huge improvement since I left in August. It was good to catch up with the folks at First Lutheran. As I sat in worship, I started asking the question: "why do they do that?" Lessons, creeds, songs, etc. If there's anything I've learned at Good Shepherd, it's to think about why each element of worship is there.

Then over the river and through the woods to Grandma & Grandpa's house we went. All the way to Grantsburg, WI. They live in the most adorable little cottage out in the woods. Lynda bought new fleece jammies for all three of us ladies, so we snuggled up for a portrait in our new duds. Outside, birch trees, bluejays, deer, and a half frozen river surrounded us. We were able to take a stroll along the icy driveway, and saw a white tailed deer shoot across the driveway. That's one of my favorite places to photograph: lots of depth, and no one around to witness the snuggling! :)

On our way home, Dave & Lynda let us stop and check out this beautiful overlook of the St. Croix River. We've been over the bridge a ton of times, but never stopped. The frozen icicles, snow covered rocks, old sheds, and trees were breathtaking. We even saw two bald eagles fly overhead (Ok, Kevin spotted them and pointed them out)...but that was a cool sight to see! It's freezing cold here, but I really appreciate the wide open spaces. Privacy is easy to find around here, not so much in LA. Even some of the most secluded places turn into tourist traps out near Torrance.

I slept on the way there, all the way home in the car, then crashed at Kevin's for another 3 hours (5 total). I woke up feeling like crap, so we ran to Walgreen's to get some Zicam, found a Victoria's Secret gift card in the parking lot (valued at $15 yippee--I called the toll free number to check), loaded up on OJ and meds, got some Chipotle, and am ready to crash again. Kevin's not feeling too great eitherI slept way too much today. Gee, am I sick?