Karwoski Life

Wow, July already. I’ve been thinking for a while now I wanted to sit down and compose a post…but we really have been all over the place this summer and I think if I were to try and catch you up…you’d be reading and reading and reading. Let’s just say this…our summer is going swimmingly. Here are a few highlights: Meghan came down to stay over and we took her to Ankeny SummerFest. Aunt Emmy rode on a LOT of rides with her. Aunt Emmy is a BIG chicken when it comes to heights. Meghan, on the other hand, cool as a cucumber. We had a blast though, taking her to the carnival, treating her to yummy summer treats…and she was good as gold. My heart…oh, it swells when I think of that little girl. I hope she will always want to come and stay with us. I ran another 5K and Meghan was there to cheer me on with Matt and George…FUN! Running in the drizzle…NOT FUN! But it’s good practice for Florida humidity, I’m sure. We’re on a softball team! Together with an awesome group of folks from church we ar...

So my parents moved to Oklahoma last week. Hope and I road tripped on down to meet them in Stillwater and help them with their move. We spent 3 days there cleaning, unpacking, and helping Mom and Dad settle in to their new house. It was a lot of hard work…but a true labor of love. I know I’ve written it here before…but it seems a good opportunity to say again just how much I truly love my family. It goes without saying that I believe my parents are just about the best parents a girl could have. Of course we all have our faults and we didn’t always see eye to eye on things…but as I grow older I find myself cherishing them more and more. It was funny, watching the foreign house in Oklahoma slowly transition into my parents’ house. It was almost as though I could see the Boston’s emerging slowly from this strange new house. There is a room in the new house which we were trying to find a name for…Dad’s room…the gun room…the den…the exercise room. It is a room that is distinctly Dad’s. I we...

Oh what a wonderful long holiday weekend we had; fun with around the house, working in the yard, enjoying plenty of sunshiny deck time, s’mores with friends, and a leisurely drive around the lake. The weather was delightful; the days sprawled out long and uneventful…making it hard to come back to the real world this morning! However, with several exciting adventures awaiting us on the horizon, there’s a little extra spring in my step today. Over the past few months, I’ve sort of had this idea in my mind that I may try and run a road race each month of 2010…weird, I know. So, I’m always looking ahead at upcoming races to see what’s out there that I might want to run in. In the back of my mind, I was really hoping to find a run that would hit a little closer to home. Something perhaps geared towards brain injuries, or strokes. With a little bit of internet sleuthing, I found a run for the American Stroke Association! Turns out there is a program geared towards raising money for the organ...

This past week was a blur of friends, family, and fun, fun, fun. I’m always snapping photos so that I might be able to capture and somehow hold on to the memories of special times…much to the mild annoyance of others. But, being able to pull out photos years, months, or even just days later and remember with smiles what was said and done…well, I just love that. Last Thursday I took the day off so that Amy and I could road trip up to visit our friend Julie...our friend who is undergoing breast cancer treatments, the one whose situation inspired us to learn to run so we could represent her in the Race for the Cure 5K this fall. The past several months she’s been on my mind and in my heart as I prayed for her and her family…but seeing her in person really made her cancer REAL. And suddenly it hit me that I’ve not prayed for her nearly enough. I take for granted that she is going to be ok…but now I realize more concretely how much she needs prayer. We talked and talked and laughed for hou...

I had a feeling that church might make me a little emotional today, but I had no idea I’d be wiping tears before we finished the first praise song. I just hate getting so emotional at church. I don’t know why…if there’s anyplace it should be ok…more than ok…to be emotional, it should be church – surrounded by loving friends. But for me, I just don’t like to make a fuss…a scene. I worry that people are seeing my tears and misinterpreting what they mean. I don’t want to have to explain on the spot. I don’t want sympathy. I found myself trying to distract myself from the words, the message that was being spoken through the beautiful songs, and the meaningful sermon. If I allowed myself to let the words sink in and resonate within me…I feared I might not be able to stop the tears and Lord knows I just hate crying in church. I fidgeted, I doodled, I squirmed in my seat…longing the whole time to dash out the back and make a break for it. How ridiculous is that? I feel stupid even admitting ...

Meghan played her first game of soccer tonight and Matt and I went up to watch with Hope, Chad, and Matthew. It was fun to watch her learning to play a sport, be a part of a team, and just run around enjoying herself. Sometimes I look at her and I just can't believe that's our little Meghan. My little peanut...so grown up.

It’s no great mystery that I think Matt is a super-duper great guy. I think I’ve made it abundantly (and no doubt) annoyingly clear that I really, deeply admire him. It seems time will go by and we’re doing well – life is good and things are steady. And suddenly something happens to really grab my attention again and remind me of why it is that I just love, love, love him. Spring is upon us and we are all busy bustling about in our yards, garages, and homes. Kids are outside playing, motorcycles are zipping up and down the street, and lawnmowers are roaring to life signaling the official commencement of this most beloved time of year. Last week we could almost see our lawn grow. Each day we’d comment about how tall it had gotten and how soon I’d have to be out there with our own lawnmower (oh that wonderful piece of machinery which I love almost as much as our snow blower). Matt mentioned to me that we should have the oil changed and the blade sharpened in the lawnmower. I would mumb...