A - Z Project, Part 1

When we returned from the States in early July, Claire and I decided that we needed to do something memorable during summer break, given that the circumstances of our lives here in Czech had changed (Caleb had left for a summer job and college, Tyler had just gotten married, and Dave had to unexpectedly go back to the States to get him medical help).

Thus the "A - Z" project was born.

As you can probably guess from the number of photos on hers and my blog, we like to capture life with our camera.

We took it a step further and with intentionality, set out to capture the summer from A-Z...taking time to observe things in our normal lives, as well as going out of the way to do things we wouldn't normally do - all to make memories and have some special moments for just mom and daughter in the summer of 2012.

Now that the summer is over, it's time to roll out the results of our A - Z project on our blogs! She's posting from A - M (see her first post HERE), and I have N - Z.

Here we go with the first few letters of my part of the alphabet!

N - NEIGHBOR

Our neighbor, whom I've written about on numerous occasions, will definitely stand out as a  memorable part of our summer.

All because of a misunderstanding on my part (she asked me to do something that I inadvertently agreed to), she was over at our house 5, 6, and sometimes 7 times a day all summer checking in to see if I'd done what she asked.

The number of visits may lead you to believe that I didn't do what she asked, and that she was having to remind me.

On the contrary...I DID do it! But then there were many, MANY follow up visits just to rehash over and over again with Claire and I, what all had taken place. PHEW! That was a lot of chatting with our neighbor.

While it wasn't always pleasant hearing the doorbell ring and ring and ring (she doesn't know to only ring once and then wait for you to come to the door), it was definitely a memory of this summer that we won't forget!

O - OLYMPICS

It was awesome that this summer was the 2012 Olympic Games - that gave us numerous hours of entertainment, especially since they were in London and we could watch them "real time"!

But the best part was watching the daughter of a dear friend of mine from our ministry days in Germany, race in the women's 800 m for Guam. That's her on the left...Amy Atkinson.

I wrote about her on my blog earlier this summer if you want to read more.

P - POLLY JARS

While visiting a friend in the States earlier in the summer, Claire and I were inspired by the organization of her pantry. Everything that could possibly be stored in a jar was beautifully positioned on her pantry shelves. It was a work of art...a practical one at that!

Thus the idea for "Polly Jars" was born (can you guess that our friend is named Polly?!)

I found inexpensive jars at IKEA and we took several days to go through absolutely everything in the pantry to sort and make order.

The result was a very tidy pantry that makes us want to bake and cook! 

I still haven't gotten tired of opening the door and enjoying the sight of our Polly Jars!

More of the A - Z Project to come!