I adore my husband

I adore my husband. He's my sweetie. He's the kindest and sweetest man I've ever known. I've also never known anyone who actually lives up to his name....Kevin means KIND and Sprecher is SPEAKER. How cool is that? He's taken a few days off to play while my dad is in town.

I love these shots of him because he looks totally relaxed.

I'm so thankful for him.

Golf, Dad & Vacation stuff

Cil's dad has been here for almost one week (two to go) on the second part of his bi-annual visit. We love having him here and we have so much fun together! We've been golfing twice already this weekend and managed to squeeze in a trip to St. Louis to go to Union Station on Thursday when it was drizzly. It's been about 62 years since Dad came through there (1946) when he was in the military. It was the standard norm to travel by train back in those days and was quite the place to be. It's very beautiful and I can only imagine how much life it had back then!

I've uploaded some new videos (look in the side bar for golf ones). Below are some pics from the last couple of days.


Union Station in all it's glory although the picture doesn't do it justice!

Dad/Leo on the tee

Golf buddies (-2 for the day!)

Vacation slideshow

Eureka Springs Vacation

Wow, what a great weekend we had! Aanika with Oma and Opa, Cil & Kev golfing and window shopping in Eureka Springs. Did I tell you it was gorgeous? We couldn't have ordered up a more perfect time to go because the weather was fantastic!

Aanika played at the local parks in Branson and got to take pictures with her very own disposable camera - pics to come later - and even made some new friends in their neighborhood. She said she had a real good time so it'll be interesting to see what her pictures are of!

Cil & Kev played golf Saturday and Sunday on Holiday Island but went in to town and window shopped and ate some awesome food on Friday and Saturday nights. We also skulked around some really cool, Victorian-style neighborhoods as well as one of the local hotels that they say is haunted. I never got the heebie-geebies so that was good!

Here's our view on Sunday morning on our way to the course. Psssttt....those are clouds, not water!


Here are a couple of other pictures but if you'd like to see more, I'll be setting up a photobucket account soon that you can go to. I'll update this when it's done!

Mountaintop golfing at it's best!

It's my Birfweek!

Wow! Another year has come and gone and I'm a whopping 43 years old! Hey, I'm not complaining, I'm just wondering why I still feel like a kid and not the grown up lady I am. Age is just a number right? It's all about how you feel about yourself and where you're at in life. Right now I'm feeling great about the ME I am, I'm making progress in my fitness life and I have an awesome family. What more could a girl want?

My sweetie took me out for my birthday dinner to The Cheesecake Factory last night. Aanika picked Steak Diane for us to share and then Kev and I shared my favorite cheesecake - The Tuxedo. Yummy! Here's our self portrait to commemorate our fun evening out.

For those of you wondering, I have thus declared Birfweek! It started yesterday on my actual birthday and will go through Sunday. Kev's taking me golfing in Eureka Springs, AR and Aanika will spend the weekend with Oma & Opa. Yea! I can't wait!

For those of you who don't know what a Birfweek is, here's the definition:

Part 1: A birfweek is an extension of a birthday-day (as in “it’s my Birfday!”). It is up to the person celebrating to decide if the days preceding or following the actual birthday are part of said birfweek (the birthday has to fall somewhere within these days). Birfweek ‘start’ has to be verbally declared, with sufficient notice, for planning by the spouse or significant other.
Part 2: The person celebrating their birfweek is allowed to purchase at least one birthday item of their choosing (within reason) and not have to explain why it was purchased. This does NOT count as the gift from the significant other!
Part 3: Something has to be purchased for or done for, in regard to the person celebrating, on each day of the birfweek in recognition of said celebration. (i.e. massage, not cooking, salon trip etc.)

NOTE: No children are allowed in the practice of Birfweek. This is designed for spouses and significant others ONLY!

Teen Mania

We were a host home this weekend for 4 amazing girls from a group called Teen Mania, based out of Tyler, TX (click on the title to check them out). They are 19-21 years old, live with 31 other people on a bus that travels all over North America and work hard to put on youth conferences called Acquire the Fire. These kids are working 17+ hour days to reach other teens for the Lord. How awesome is that?! It was great getting to know them and to hear them talk with such passion about what they are doing. We're sooo looking forward to doing it again next year!
Here they are L-R with their home state:

Danielle (MA), Andrea (CA), Jyl (OK), Joanna (MO)

My favorite time of year

Everyone has one, right? Their favorite time of year - it's usually linked to a "reason" for having it. Is it the smell? The feel? A good memory? For me, it's all about change. What's my favorite time of year? Autumn, without a doubt!

I like to paint rooms of my house. Not for any particular reason, just to paint it. I like to see the transformation of something and it can't be subtle...it's gotta be different. My sweet hubby thinks I'm nuts, but I have to paint something if I don't get to do a room. Give me a basket, a picture frame, a candelabra - anything - I'll paint it.

It's a fantastic day outside today and the colors are starting to show in the trees by the river and in the hills by our house. I can't explain it but I get this silly kind of smile on my face when I see it. I guess it's the anticipation of the change that will paint our landscape in some of the most beautiful and dramatic colors you can imagine. Can you feel it? It's coming!! Yeah, I LOVE this time of year!

Strange, I never thought of it this way before but it sounds kind of like life and the people we meet, doesn't it? Hmmm....I'll have to think about that one a little more.