Summer.. where have you gone?!

Does anybody else think this summer has gone by SUPER fast?! Maybe it's because we traveled so much, but I cannot believe that the kick off for Jr High is coming up, that our classes are starting soon, and it's already August! Dan and I are going to try to cram into these next couple weeks as much "Chicago summer fun" as we can. We always say that we love summers in Chicago, and haven't really gotten to experience too much of it this year. Then again, if we were in town it's hard to tell if we would actually go into the city because it has been SO hot. Which makes our marathon training brutal. We are finally getting into the big miles: 15 tomorrow (if it doesn't pour in the morning). We have never run more than 13 miles.. so this is slightly terrifying. But, I bought the fuel belt (yes I will be one of those people with the water bottles strapped around my waste) and new shoes this week, so we are prepared.. as prepared as we can be.

Along with this training comes intense hunger. I am seriously hungry all the time. Not just hungry, but ravenous, like I need food now or else my stomach will eat me alive. It's bad when you are reading during your qt "blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.." and it reminds you of food so you start thinking about lunch. I just keep telling Dan I am going to have a rude awakening in October when we're not running nearly as much but I continue eating the way I am now....

And the last wedding of the summer was last week :) Mr and Mrs. Shane and Kylie Steed tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony in Columbus, Ohio. It was such a blessing to be apart of their big day, and the wedding was so beautiful and God honoring. They both put their testimonies in the program, and wrote something about each bridesmaid/ groomsman (such a great idea!) Kylie walked down the aisle to Mercy Me's "I can only imagine," I scarfed down too much of her lemon wedding cake, definitely helped myself to too much candy at the candy bar, got to watch Kylie's grandparents break it down on the dance floor, and stood amazed as I listened to Kylie's recording of their first dance song from Phantom of the Opera.

As always there's pictures :)

And this weekend we are home. Excited to catch up with friends we haven't seen in a while and to go to our home church! Oh, and speaking of churches, last week we were able to go to Veritas! It is an Acts 29 church plant in Columbus that a lot of our friends from Crusade attend. It was SO fun to go to a new church that is just getting started. It's crazy that they need people to come in and vacuum because they don't have a janitorial system.. there are SO many details that go into starting a new church! But, it has always been on Dan's heart to help start a new church, so Lord willing we will be doing that sometime in the future. It was good to get a "taste" for what we may be able to be apart of some day!

Oh, and on another note. How great is this quote? I'm excited to learn more about this author :) "I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud, and I don't want to get to the end, or to tomorrow, even, and realize that my life is a collection of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes. I want to eat cold tangerines and sing out loud in the car with the windows open and wear pink shoes and stay up all night laughing and paint my walls the exact color of the sky right now. I want to sleep hard on clean white sheets and throw parties and eat ripe tomatoes and read books so good they make me jump up and down, and I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that he gave life to someone who loves the gift." shauna niequist

So this may have been one of my more random posts.... Happy Friday!!