202 Designs

I took about a six month break from selling paintings in my Etsy shop, 202 Designs, so that I could have some time to just enjoy and get used to life with Rhett. Now I'm feeling like I am back in the swing of things and looking forward to adding some new paintings and art prints to the shop! It was great to take a break, but I have missed it a little bit, too.

Looking forward to getting some new pieces in there, so keep checking back. Below are some of my favorites!

You can click the button on the right sidebar to see my shop and the paintings that are currently in there. If you visit my page feel free to pin any pieces that you like :)

I Can't Do This

This morning Ashley Feldman, Jake Heisterkamp and I headed out to ride on a trail that none of us had ridden before.  Our ride consisted of riding the Raccoon River Trail from Waukee to Panora which was 60 miles round trip.  On the way to Panora we hauled the mail; we got there quick.  The trail was beautiful, it  was a covered by green trees, had great asphalt to ride on and when we entered Guthrie County it was paved with concrete, so it was great.

 Once we got to Panora we decided to try a local place to eat which got us to P.J's.  That place was great. We actually met the owner of 20 years and then he said that he gave the place to his nephew.  So it was great to know who we were supporting.  I will more than likely stop next time I'm passing through.

Well lunch was served and we had 30 more miles to go.  On the way back we decided to check out the small towns and just take our time.  We had a lot of fun seeing these small towns, and meeting the people.  At Redfield we stopped at the Depot, which was great; it had indoor bathrooms and cold drinks. We decided to make a memory........

After Redfield we only had one more time till home. Made it to Adel and new that we only had 8 miles left.  Wow! We all agreed that it was the toughest 8 miles we have ridden in a long time and here is why.  Small but steady hill, in the open the whole way and totally in the open to get blasted by that great head wind.  I know for me, at three miles in I was physically and mentally drained.  I honestly didn't think that I could pedal anymore.  We all get to that point and it sucks, because in your head things trickle in to make it even worse.  For me I drink more fluids, I keep adjusting on my bike whether it be how I sit, or the position that I'm riding, I'll keep switching from the drop bars to the brake hoods to just sitting up right.  It drives me nuts.  At this point I knew I only had 2 more miles to go. I had to keep telling me legs THAT I ONLY HAVE 2 MILES LEFT!!
With all that being said, it's great to have your body pushed to the limits, it just makes the next time easier(well you hope thats the case).
To sum up the day, we rode 60 miles on a new trail, beat the rain, the clouds kept us covered, so all in all it was a great ride.

What fun

Tonight was a lot of fun.  I got the chance to go biking with a great group of friends,  Adam and his family as well as my brother Nate.  We decided to ride the scenic route on the High Trestle Trail. The pay off of this ride is the High Trestle Trail Bridge, which is an AWESOME sight to see!

Our ride started in Polk City where I got test my Yakima bike rack. We had it loaded to the max!

We also had our mini loaded! We had no open seats, but it got us there safe and sound.  We decided to drive to Slater and to start the bike ride there.  Its only 9.5 miles to the bridge, and if anyone is thinking of riding this ride its a very very flat 9.5 miles with stops along the way if you get tired or need something to eat or drink.  

As we were riding to the bridge Kristin and Rhett drove the van about a mile away from the bridge and walked out there to meet up with us.  It was awesome to see them on the bridge and then to take some fun pictures.......

Love this pic of us!

 

Adam and Luke having a blast

The Etherington's

The Beecher's

Nate and I (Rhett was not supposed to make this picture)

4th of July - Family in Town

The 4th of July was a lot of fun this year. My aunt and uncle and their four kids were visiting from North Carolina, and Jonny's fiance, Anna was here as well! Mom had a lot of fun decorating and made some pretty yummy food for us all. Early that morning we went out on the boat and Rhett loved swimming in the lake. It was so great to just relax with all of the family!

Rhett is becoming our little fish! He loves the water!

Rhett had a blast watching fireworks with Grandpa

All of the Henderson kids loved holding Rhett - and they did so well with him!

Emma was daring enough to paint Grant's toes. 

Okoboji Fun

Grant, Rhett and I went up to Okoboji for the weekend to visit his family and enjoy the water. I was really excited to see how Rhett liked the water - and I would say it was a success! He LOVED the pool at Bridges Bay and slept most of the time that we were out on the boat. He would wake up every once in awhile to little splashes of water, but he didn't seem to mind - it probably helped cool him off quite a bit! He had fun hanging out on the dock while we were fishing as well. I think Rhett is going to be a little outdoorsman. He seems to be much more content when we are out and about than when we are playing at home.


Grant did the The University of Okoboji Campus Ride on Saturday. He had hoped to do the 100 mile ride, but with the heat and a few problems right at the beginning he decided that 25 miles would have to be enough. I was actually kind of glad because he had a lot more time to hang out with family this way. While Grant was on the ride I was able to help paint the tree-carved pelican sitting at the end of Jane and Jeff's driveway. It actually was a fun little project - I'm always up for painting! Then, later that night we went to watch the Dualing Pianos in the green space. They were fun and entertaining - and even got Laura up on stage to do the Hokey Pokey!


It was hard to leave on Monday, and even harder to go to work on Tuesday after our fun-filled weekend.

Grant had some fun on the tube

Rhett taking a nap on the boat

Isaac showing off his fish with Grant and Jeff

Rhett rockin the sunglasses

Thanks, Jane and Jeff for all of the fun!

Our Endless Entertainment

I cannot believe that Rhett is 3 months old already! Oh, the fun that we have had with him. 

He can ride a motorcycle

He makes an excellent cup holder

Scoutin out the neighborhood with dad

Grant couldn't decide on an iPhone case so Rhett was helping hold a few

Rhett beats dad in some Tiger Woods on xBox

On a side note - I made these cupcakes last week for Sam's baby shower. I had a blast making them. I designed the toppers, printed and cut out the circles and then glued them onto a toothpick. Pretty easy, but I learned that I am not good at cutting out perfect circles!

South Africa

Okay - Before I start blogging about life here and now, I want to back up to last October and write about South Africa in a nutshell.

My first trip to South Africa was in July of '09. I immediately fell in love with the kids and when Grant and I got married I told him the one thing that I wanted to make sure we did before we had kids was take a trip to South Africa together. (Not that I think that you can't go to Africa when you have kids. I just wanted to make sure that we could go together and not let the kids become our excuse.) So, when I was 20 weeks pregnant we headed over there :)

I could not wait to meet the kids and see how things were going at the new orphanage. I thought that the Lord was going to just reteach me the things that I had learned last time that I was there: to find joy even in the hard times, to LOVE on orphans and widows as He commands and to find satisfaction in Him alone. And, while I did get a refresher course on those things, He taught me so much more (but I'll get to that in a second.)

The boys were busy helping build the house that would be Louie and Amber O'Tools. To me it looked more like they were playing with legos the entire time! I wasn't able to help out with that - but I did get in on a few other things that we did while we were over there: planting a couple gardens for families in Thabong, sharing the gospel with some kids there as well and helping the girls at the village with homework most days.

I LOVE this picture - Those little, bare feet and dirt-covered knees are always
a reminder of the precious kids that we spent some time with in Thabong.

As we were there serving I was able to see Grant fall in love with the place the way that I had my first time visiting. It was so great to know that he would finally 'get it'. While we were there we also fell in love with the kids - and the Lord laid it on our hearts to sponsor a girl named Lerato.

Please notice Grant's creepy mustache.

What I believe the Lord sent me over to Africa for this time, though, was to learn a little bit more about the lives of the missionaries over there and to learn how to be a great wife and mother. I was able to see their amazing love for Christ, for the people, and their love and support for one another.

You see, the boys were out building the house most days, and I wasn't able to help since I was pregnant. So, I got to stay back at home with Amber and 'help' her out with her everyday life. She was such a great example of a Godly wife and mother. I began to realize very quickly that family is the most important part of ministry. Without help and support from each other, neither would be able to accomplish much. I felt like I was seeing a couple working as a team for the Lord in a way I hadn't ever quite seen before - and I am so thankful for that. My challenge was (and is) to be that same support system for Grant with the ministries that we are involved in. Crazy that I had to go all the way over to Africa to learn that - but God had His plan!

This is Amber. I'm sure that she appreciates I'm using this picture of her :)
SIDE NOTE: Masterpiece is great!

All of that doesn't even begin to tell of all of the things that we experienced and learned while we were in Africa. I could go on and on for hours about the specific ways that the Lord taught me while I was there - and I'm totally willing to share more so feel free to ask. But, for right now I just wanted to share with you that snippet of our trip.

And, if you want to learn more about Restoring Hope Village, click HERE.