happy girl.

i am building a cathedral.

on a day like today when i have to go outside numerous times to breathe and silence my ears a bit before returning inside to a screaming baby, i receive a card in the mail from a dear friend who knows exactly what i need to hear. this really blessed me today and i hope it touches you, too.

a man walking down the road encountered three dirt-covered tired men on their way home from work. curious, the man asked the first worker about his job. "i lay bricks," the man grumbled, "brick after brick after brick." the man asked the second worker about his job. "i build walls. i finished one today, in fact. tomorrow i will start another," he replied. the man asked the third worker about his job. with spirit in his voice he said, "i build cathedrals--great, beautiful monuments that glorify God and draw people to Him!" the man thanked the workers and continued down the road, with a hurried step to see the cathedral underway.

the man knew that all three workers were brick layers. though they worked the same trade their perspective differed greatly.

and she followed the story with a sweet letter to me...

"you are now a brick layer, each day is another brick, each stage another wall. but that view will break your spirit. no, you are more than a mere brick layer. you are building a cathedral! you are building a great, beautiful monument that will glorify God and draw people to Him! this is the perspective that truly encompasses the incredible job before you. make sure you take a few steps back every once in awhile to gain perspective, in order to preserve sanity and to appreciate the beauty of your trade."

perfect timing. thank you, shannon.

me and my girl.

thus far we have learned a few things about this little human that now inhabits with us.
1. she's a stubborn little goober.
2. she's quite opinionated.
3. she's got a fiery spirit.
4. she will probably require lots of time outs someday.
5. she's super sweet when she's happy. and we must remember that when she's not happy.

bad sassendorf or bust.

chris loves to keep updated on the traffic flow and stats of this here blog. i haven't logged into analytics in a long time but i did yesterday and discovered some interesting things. i love seeing from what cities around the world people are reading in from. i forget that more than just my parents and a few local friends read my words, but now i know more of you are out there! here are some cities outside the u.s. (some of which i've never heard of) where you readers are located. feel free to make your presence known and comment every now and then.

nome, alaska
adelaide, australia
st. denis, france
singapore
kaiserslautern, germany
bad sassendorf, germany
pelotas, brazil

a daddy with his daughter.

i promise that i'll blog about more than vera in the future, but for now, this is what my life consists of and not much else. i do love these daddy/daughter pics. this cute onesie is from aunt meredith--thanks!

this week we enjoyed the company of chris's grandma and aunt who flew down from chicago. here is a 4-generation photo.