GOLD in the CLOUDS : Mid-August Faves

I honestly can't believe we are into mid-August already! Summer is still going strong yet Autumn is in just 5 more weeks!

I'm pausing today to share FIVE of my FAVE blessings God brought into my life this past week. Some are huge, some are little but all deserve thanks to the One who provides.

Link up with us at Susanne's blog to join in and share your weekly blessings.

left side: Paul and Kim
right side: Dave and I

RWC REUNION! The college I attended (now a University!) was a medium sized private Christian one. I had a lot of good friends in every class and when I was a senior, I became especially close to certain juniors, one of which was my friend Paul and his friend Floyd. Paul ended up marrying a girl I knew from dorm life, a nursing major named Kim. Dave was the only one of us who didn't attend RWU. I met him just after I was done with grad school here in Albany. Well, Paul, Kim, and I reconnected via FB a number of years ago and we kept saying "We have to get together before we're old". HA! So this summer we made it happen! We set aside last Saturday to travel from our respective homes (they live about 4 hours west of us in Rochester NY) so we met at this beautiful rooftop restaurant in Utica NY. I'm originally from central NY anyways so am somewhat familiar with Utica. We had such a great time with good food and wine catching up on the last 42 years! I'm so thankful we made this little friendship reunion work.

our church logo
courtesy of website

CHURCH CONVERSATIONS: I really enjoyed chatting after church (We went to the 9AM) with one of Courtney's oldest friends from school/youth group. They still get together but I hadn't seen S in so long!! She was there with her mom, whom I last saw to speak with, last Spring. So we had a good conversation getting caught up on our lives. Then I was able to talk to two other women I hadn't seen much this summer. I also am thankful for our senior pastor who gave us an excellent sermon about Romans 8:28 and what it exactly means for Christ followers and what it does not mean! I really needed to hear this sermon. I'm so very thankful for our church, the leadership and the friends we have there.

ice cold sparkling lemon-lime water

youngest daughter Claire
at Cherry Plain State Park beach

LAKE DAY: My youngest daughter wanted to spend time with me at her fave state park beach. It's only about a 35 minute drive across the Hudson River to the east of us. We arrived around noon and stayed until 3 pm. It was very hot on Sunday afternoon so we brought ice cold waters and some lunch food and did a lot of swimming in Black Pond. The water was very refreshing. I'm thankful I had a few hours with my youngest girl. She's not had a lot of vacation time this year and is working hard at her optician apprenticeship. I'm thankful she's doing well and carved out some time on her day off to be with me.

from a roastery in the northern Adirondacks!

FRESH LOCAL COFFEE: This coffee roastery is found in the county in the North Country where my oldest and I were last week on vacation. It's fair trade and organic and locally owned by a family. You can click the link below the photo to get yourself a free half pound! I bought a pound of the Guatemalan because it's Dave's fave roast. He loves the Guatemalan coffee bean. We have a coffee grinder with various settings so I did the pound for our automatic drip brewer. We will be enjoying this for the next week or so. I'm thankful we discovered this coffee roastery because I had only known of the one in Schroon Lake (9 Mile Coffee). The scent of it at 6 AM each morning this week has been heavenly. It's just a simple blessing but I truly am thankful for the scent of fresh brewed coffee.

small orange rose bush is finally starting to do well
in the front flower garden

Flowers for deck bought on Mother's Day
and still doing well.. I think it's the heat and high humidity
cause it sure isn't the rain! We've had no significant rain this summer

SUMMER BLOOMS: I'm thankful for the flowers that are doing well this summer and the fact our small rose bush is finally getting some more blooms. There's nothing like sitting out in the evening, on the deck, with such beauty. I'm also thankful for the wildflowers I see on walks and in the mountains by the lakes we frequent.