Faves

 

WOWZA! We are heading into the last week of October.

It's been a good week, somewhat busy but not overly so.  A nice mix of scheduled or routine events along with a couple of nice surprises or "extras" to bring my lips to a smile and say "Thank You, God".  I'm here to share five of those blessings we call "FAVES". Head over to Susanne's site to learn how to join in and read other blessings. 

Kia Dealership
display for the month of October

• CAR SHOPPING:  Last Saturday was the day Dave and I had set aside to go car shopping...I'm never a fan of car shopping but I had already known what I wanted so that took some pressure off. Our sales guy was wonderful.  He wasn't pushy at all and because I knew exactly what I wanted and we had done some research about what brand new cars they had in stock, it was easy to get one to test drive. I'm thankful this experience was relatively quick, easy and successful!  I was going to go with a used model but the one I liked was not that much less than a brand new 2025 so we went with brand new. I bought a Kia Soul in gray and they threw in a deal for us by adding on a roof rack to fit our kayaks! I also smiled at the display they had in the showroom. My Harry Potter fan daughter would love it! I texted her a photo.  The car will be ready for pick up tonight! I'm also thankful that Dave and I prayed together regarding what to do with my Honda Civic. There is a young couple in our church who have a 3 yr old little boy. They are in desperate need of a car. After talking and praying together, we decided it would be best to sell them my car for a very reduced rate so that they could finally have a good car. My Honda only has 78,000 miles on it and has had no major issues so it's a blessing to be able to be generous towards this young family. I'm thankful we can do this at this point in our lives. 

• CHOIR REHEARSAL!  Last Sunday was our first choir rehearsal for Christmas Eve. We are singing all traditional Christmas songs including a very old hymn from a Latin poem written in the year 405 A.D! (Of the Father's Love Begotten...those of you in more traditional churches may have sung this before. I sang it in college and my parents' church has it in their hymn book).  This rendition of Silent Night (in the video) will be the one we are learning for this year's Christmas Eve service.(click on the video to hear Concordia University Choir sing it) I'm so thankful I get to sing alto and be in a church choir with a fantastic director and fellow musicians and 4 part harmony with actual choral pieces.  We listened to the above you tube video while trying to pick out our part as the sheet music for our parts hasn't arrived yet. We also got to sight read through a new to us arrangement of O Holy Night which I absolutely fell in love with. I'm thankful for the gift of music!

Sunday Sunrise

• SUNRISE!  On Sunday, we woke up to a beautiful sunrise. We both had slept in until about 7:15 which is late for us...especially for Dave as he rises every day around 5:15 for work. I typically, now that I'm retired, get up between 6:15-6:30.  As I came downstairs to get that first steaming mug of coffee, I saw this so stepped out onto the deck to snap the pic.  I'm thankful for beautiful, peaceful mornings. 

SoulSteps Hiking Group hike to The Pinnacle
l-r: me, Joan, Jay
photo used with permission

Lake George from the summit of Pinnacle
Bolton Landing, NY
eastern Adirondacks

The first mile of the trail before the ascent
Pinnacle/Red Trail

Golden color all around
Near the Summit of Pinnacle
Tuesday 21 October

• MID-WEEK SOULSTEPS HIKE!  The group I founded and now lead had a very remote hike scheduled for Wednesday but Wednesday's forecast said a high of 44 for up in the high peaks region along with 70% chance of rain. So because only 3 of the 5 people who had signed up for the hike (including me) were still interested, I did a "Plan B" for Tuesday instead of Wednesday, which was forecasted to be warmer,  sunny and only a slight chance of rain. We nixed Plan A in the high peaks region  due to they still had  a higher chance of rain than this more local hike I had in mind. We are so thankful we went with Plan B. It's only an hour drive from our town and my friend Joan offered to drive.  None of us had ever hiked this very popular trail up a very small mountain. It only took us about 45 minutes to go the 1.5 miles to the summit. Once we were there, we ate some fruit and took a lot of photos because it's just past peak with the color there and the sun felt glorious. In fact, we had to shed some layers. We spoke with a  couple of people who came up behind us, and just sat and took in the beauty. After descending, we took a half mile side trail to a lower overlook.  I'm so thankful it was a short but fun hike and easy to navigate trail,  and that we got some great exercise out in God's creation. There is nothing like the Adirondack Mountains in the autumn months. It's truly heaven on earth. I'm also thankful the two members who had signed up were able to be flexible. (the other 2 had prior commitments for Tuesday which was our Plan B). Everyone who is in SoulSteps has been super friendly and willing to be flexible. Someone asked me if I only take Grace Fellowship members/attenders into this large activity group ministry.  I can't remember who asked me that but no.....I have people who attend other churches in the area as well as 2 people who don't currently attend a church. We are open to anyone over age 21 and I do have 3 families with children who join us on our family-friendly hikes. When our church has "Connect Weekends" (Winter/Spring and late Summer/Autumn) for class and group sign ups, I interview potential members for about 5 min and once they sign the required Risk Forms and Covenant Pledge (which is for speech and behavior accountability), they are added to the group.  The only  commitment I require is each member must participate in at least one hike per semester in order to remain on the next semester list. Our semesters run Mid-March to Mid-June (Spring); mid-June to mid-Sept (Summer) and mid-Sept to mid-Dec (Autumn semester).  SoulSteps does not have planned hikes from Dec 21st through mid-March.  I hope that answers the questions...and I apologize for not remembering which of you asked me! 

• HAIR TRIMMED:  My hair stylist had an opening for yesterday morning so I went in and had my hair trimmed up and texturized. My hair is not only thick but very heavy..yes...even well into my 60s so I need it trimmed more often and the layers texturized a bit. She did this French cropped bob with a longer stack cut in the back which now makes my hair even on both sides. I've been growing it out since last Spring's very short cropped cut and it was getting very shaggy.  I'm thankful for Robin and her skills! I'm also thankful that she continues to offer lower prices than some of the more fancier hair salons in our area. 

Those are the five things that stand out to me this week....things I'm especially thankful for!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!