Happy Birthday Jay Post

It's a little overdue but I guess getting it posted is what counts.  We honestly haven't had too much going on and that is why I haven't posted in such a long time!  Sorry everyone, but our life seems too boring to blog all the time I guess!  Lately we've really just been hanging out at the house, Jay has been studying a lot, I've been busy with church activities and planning our open house at work.  Things are going pretty good and we are gearing up for some traveling within the next two weeks.  I'll hopefully have more to post coming up soon.

Nonetheless, this post is for Jay and his birthday.  His actual birthday was a Wednesday and that is always hard when it is in the middle of the week.  My discipleship and choir practice got cancelled so I got to come home early to hang out with my honey!  We ordered a pizza and he opened up his birthday present and cards from everyone!

He got lots of Arkansas paraphernalia from Mom and Dad!  How fun!  Everyone else pitched in and we are getting him a new study desk for the third room!  He picked one out and we plan to set it up this week!  Hopefully it will transform that room into a sanctuary of quiet study time for the both of us!

Since Wednesday was still so busy, we saved our celebration time for Saturday night!  We went to KYOTO Sushi and Steak House down south and ate lots of great Japanese food- yum!  Happy Birthday, Jay - hope your day was a special one!  I am so thankful for my husband and the man he is :)

Well, if you can believe it, we are experiencing more snow as we speak.  I am so done with this winter weather and cannot wait for some spring relief.  My irises, day lilies, rose bushes and other perennials are coming up and I can't wait to get my garden looking great again!  Hopefully when the weather gets warmer I'll make my spring trip down to Suburban Lawn & Garden and pick out some great stuff.  

Jay has his last midterm of his second year tomorrow and we are counting down the days to his board exams (90 if you can believe it!)  Here's to a short week until my dad's family reunion this weekend!

No Need to Sit, Nothing Too Exciting

Golly Molly, it's been over a week since I've blogged!  But honestly we haven't been too busy with crazy awesome things going on.  Last weekend was very relaxing.  On Friday night we went to dinner at Popeye's and rented Alice in Wonderland and loved it.  It was so funny and very well done.  Saturday morning we went to Panera and studied for a couple hours.  After Panera we came home and hung out/studied some more.  I painted my toenails and made some banana muffins for the City Union Mission game night.  I went to the family night while Jay stayed home to do our taxes.  Thanks, honey!  Sunday was a little bit busier with church and potluck Sunday night.  We are so grateful for the warmer weather and the time to hang out together.

Monday night Leslie invited us over for dinner and we had a great time.  She made us Southwest Corn Casserole with salad on the side.  Delicious- thanks, Les!  Tuesday night we met with our good friend, Mo, who is in full-time ministry at SEMO in Cape Giradeau.  She shared with us what God is doing down there and it is truly an answer to prayer.  We love getting to spend time with her and hearing how God is working through and in her life. 

Well, spring is nearly here, today is Jay's birthday and tomorrow starts the NCAA Men's basketball tournament!  I'll have some more pictures soon!  :)

The March Madness Begins

Well ladies and gentlemen, it is March and as we all know spring is just around the corner.  I want so desperately to soak up the sun and feel the warm breezes it will bring but alas, we have not reached that point quite yet.  Spring brings more activities, busier schedules and a fuller "to do" list and the Thorpe household is already experiencing these things!  Jay is still buried in his books, diligently studying for Board Exams this summer while I have been here and there doing everything in between.  We are always thankful for the times we can relax and hang out together just us or with good friends from all over the city.  Friday night we met up with Jenny and Asante for dinner at Chipotle.  We had a BOGO coupon and were excited to have dinner discounted- a treat for sure!

Saturday morning I had a women's event at the church called Wrapped in Warmth- an event benefiting the women of Veronica's Voice here in KC.  We made no-sew fleece blankets and had a great time of fellowship and craftiness.  We ended up making, I think, 17 blankets in all.  There were so many cute patterns and they turned out great!  Way to go ladies.  :)

Sweet friends.

Too cute!

Workin' hard.

Great turn-out!

The rest of the day I cleaned the house and did laundry.  BORING!  But Saturday night we met Tim and Anna on the Plaza for a movie - The Adjustment Bureau - which was pretty good.  Then we headed over to Brio for some appetizers and dessert!  They are such a fun couple and we had a great time hanging out.  

Sunday night begins our week with Community Group at the Sterks.  Jay still has one more week off from classes (with some mandatory activities here and there) and it's back to a full week of work after two short ones for me!  

Weekend at The Glen

This weekend Jay and I went to Colorado Springs for the Physicians Discipleship Conference at the Glen Eyrie Conference Center (pictured above is the Castle).  We had a most wonderful time together and I have so many pictures to share!  I was able to take off Thursday through Monday and we left with Tim and Anna Dietrich Thursday morning for the Glen.  It was a long and scary drive considering the weather (and cattle on the interstate) but we made it by about 4 o'clock.  We immediately met so many people and got the conference kicked off!  

First session!

The Great Hall.

Friday was the first full day and it started great with some delicious food in the King James Dining Hall. We had a full morning with worship, teaching and small group then a men's and women's lunch.  After lunch was our free time and Tim, Anna, Jay and I went on a hike to the frozen falls.

You can't really tell, but for awhile we walked on solid ice!

We finally made it to the Frozen Falls!

The boys found a cave on our way back and climbed up to it.

Saturday was about the same as Friday except for during our free time Jay and I went up on a hillside and spent some time praying, journaling and listening.  It was so nice be alone and quiet for a few hours.

Last picture with the sunglasses... he lost them on the way down.  :(

My view from my "burning bush"- it was a beautiful day.  Praise Jesus.

Saturday night during the session, Wes and Catherine shared their testimony with the group and it was so fun to here them share their story.  They also introduced us to this awesome couple below-  Kyle and Moriah Stewart from OKC!  We played games til about midnight with them and a few other couples we met through Wes and Catherine- it was so fun!

Great pic of Wes and Catherine sharing! :)

Sunday morning was our last session with Skip and Buzzie Gray and we couldn't leave without getting a pic with the cutest couple ever.  

After saying our good-byes we packed up and headed out.  The drive was just as long as Thursday but we finally made it home in the pouring down rain!  It wouldn't have been a complete trip without a picture of a giant stuffed bear in the middle of a gas station...