Mid-June Faves

Well, I am super late to the FFF party hosted by Susanne where we list our FIVE faves from the week of blessings God brings to us.  What a week.

I had forgotten that Claire was dancing as a guest performer with the Academy of Dance where she studied Ballet for over 14 years and still does classes when home on breaks from college. The show was Friday evening at this place.  She was amazing but it made for a very long day for Dave and I. Although she was officially done with the studio last June, how could we NOT attend yet another Annual Dance Show when she had 3 dances she was performing in, and 2 of them were pointe solos??

And I began a DIY project on the deck that turned into a week long event.  Plus, the preschool where I teach as a special ed assistant teacher is still in session until Friday the 22nd so......yeah.....I worked two shifts this week:  my day job and this deck project plus tried to fit in housework, errands, cooking....you get the idea.  BUSY.

But it's all good and here are FIVE blessings in no specific order.

 

First bonfire of the season

• SATURDAY EVENING OUTDOORS:  Last Saturday evening was the perfect late spring evening.  A slight chill in the air after a wonderful sunny day.  It was cool enough for jeans as you can see by my leg in the pic.  Dave went out and bought some fire wood as I had scraped so much paint off the deck all day, I just wanted to relax by the fire after dinner.  It was bliss.  Claire came out and joined me around 9 pm and we stayed outside until about 11.  It was a wonderful way to end a busy day of errands and deck work.

• GRAD PARTY:  Dave and I attended a high school graduation party for the oldest daughter of friends of ours from  church.  They had their daughter's party at this place and it was gorgeous!  We were able to chat with some other friends we hadn't seen in about 5 years, and one couple we hadn't seen since 2004!! It was so much fun. I'm thankful we took the time to attend this party. 

image courtesy of  cbd

•  FINAL SMALL GROUP MEETING:  Tuesday was the evening I had my small group finish up this study.  What an excellent Bible study this was!  I'm not writing up a book review but please know if you are looking to go deeper into the  topic of spiritual intimacy, this book is perfect.  Easy, short chapters with just a little bit to read, several questions and Scriptures to look up and discuss.  I just loved it and I got positive feedback regarding the study as well.  Everyone was able to come except for 2 women.  One of my members who happens to be my friend and next door neighbor made a gluten free,  vegan blueberry crumble which was delish. And another member brought a wonderful raw veggie platter.  I made my dad's recipe for homemade lemonade and we all just had a wonderful evening wrapping up the study and chatting.  I'm thankful for good friends made through small groups.

• DANCE SOLO:  Claire's former pointe instructor asked her to dance one of the Jewels for the Annual Dance Show. Jewels is a ballet made famous by the NYC Ballet and we have seen them perform it twice when they've been here in Saratoga.  Claire danced the Emerald role on pointe and it was just stunning.  Hopefully you can see it ok.  We didn't have great seats for taking videos and I only had my smartphone so.....make sure your volume is up as the music is awesome.  The instructor doesn't like choreographing to Stravinsky which is the music for this ballet. Jewels is typically done with partners and the local studio has no male dancers and hardly any girls good enough to be on pointe.  Her two friends who are still in high school danced the Ruby and the Diamond roles.  I didn't video tape them. Claire had to learn this while on Christmas and Spring breaks this year and then once she was home, about a month ago, she attended 2 classes a week to practice with the girls. She loves this stuff and is so comfortable on a stage! It was a very enjoyable evening.  She danced Emerald, as well as a group lyrical ballet and another pointe solo from the Raymonda ballet which she learned in class at UNH. I'm thankful we took the time to attend the show. and here we thought we were done........!!

from ballerina to deck painter

• DECK STAIN!  Saturday morning I was outside by 8:30 a.m. to start staining the deck.  If you look at the floor, that is paint from 2011.  It was a cedar red.  We scrapped and sanded all week and then Thursday night my husband helped me with his electric sander and I used a 2nd one and we called it done.  It isn't perfect but we got the rough spots done so the stain would go on well.  The people at L*we's really helped me as I had no idea one could put stain on top of paint.  They directed me to the Cabot brand that is the strongest level and I chose Brickstone which you can see in the shadowed area of the deck....I started with the seat backs and went all the way around.  Took 2 hours!!  Then I breaked from noon-2 when the sun is hottest out back, and then Claire joined me to do the seats while I started the floor and steps.  We were done by 6:30 pm and we love it.  Tomorrow evening (Monday) we can put all the furniture back on the deck and it's like new again! I'm thankful Claire was willing to help (for pay as she is earning money for a trip to Montreal) after dancing so much the night before.  It was a long, hard project and God blessed us with perfect weather all week for it!

That wraps up my busy week.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!