Untill we meet again Debbie

Some of you may know this, some of you may not, but our good friend, Nikki, lost her mom, Debbie, a week ago. She battled very hard, but just couldn't overcome a serious illness, Wegener's Granulamatosis,and the complications that resulted from it. It is very sad that she is gone, especially so young. My heart aches for Nikki and her family, but we know that God has taken Debbie to a very special place to be with Him.

Eric & I were able to go to the visitation and funeral earlier this week. The funeral was tough. Nikki and her brother and sister, each got up and spoke about their Mom. The tears were flowing, but I am impressed they got through it, and it was very touching. It hit me kind of hard as well, because well Debbie was pretty much every body's "Mom"... mine included. I was so glad Eric was able to go with me, he was such a great support.

Today when I was dusting, I picked up the above picture that I have in a frame. It took my breath away to realize that Debbie is really gone, but after a few minutes I began to remember how much fun we had when that picture was taken. I have lots a great memories... Debbie was very special, and always brought a smile to my face. Until we meet again...

In the meantime, I ask all of the blog readers to keep Nikki and her family in their prayers.

Four Days... Fabulous Friends

A couple of weekends ago Eric & I headed to Central Illinois. We managed to spend lots of time with lots of special people in four short days. We stayed Friday and Saturday night at Jeanne & Ted's house in St. Joe. After we arrived Friday, the four of us headed to the Esquire in downtown Champaign for eats, beer and a little pool. It was just relaxing and fun, and something Jeanne and I would have done back in the day, but thankfully now the Esquire is twice the size and we have Ted & Eric in tow.



Saturday we went to the Illini vs. Penn State football game with our good friends Abe & Allison. Allison was in my small group in Champaign. She and Abe are a fellow EHarmony couple (my inspiration to try it myself) and live in Bartlett. They were back in C-U staying with Allison's parents. We had a great time tailgating despite the chilly weather, and enjoyed catching up with each other. While tailgating we were joined by Jake, my former Illini football player mentee. It was so good to catch up with him too. The last time we saw him was when he helped pack my moving truck in the freezing cold back in January. Jake has left football behind, but is in his 4th year at UIUC, finishing up his undergrad and starting his grad work. It was kind of exciting for me to actually be able to offer him a beer for the first time... he is 21 now!



On Sunday morning we went to Quest United Methodist for church... perfect timing as they were celebrating their 5th birthday. It was great to catch up with some of my special Quest friends, and even meet a new one... Baby Grace. She was at our wedding, but inside Anne's tummy at the time. I miss my Questers a lot, but Eric and I are getting more and more connected to Bettendorf Christian.



After church we headed to Springfield for Eric to attend Grand Chapter for Eastern Star. We got to spend lots of time with some of our favorite "Star Ladies" and had a grand time. There was an "At the Hop" fun night on Sunday, and we got to hit the dance floor. Monday we went to The Feed Store for lunch, one of my favorites... and hung out a bit more.



On Monday night we came back home... very tired but, very happy to have spent so much time with so many special people.

Jake & Abe enjoying a little tailgating.

My SweetE grillin' up some awesome ribeyes... they were delicious.