Well, we are still in the dog days of summer - with record breaking temps last week up to 98 and 99 degrees a few days. Just nuts. With these temps and school finally in session, my evenings have been less busy (read: we're not out every night playing in the mountains).

Doons is back at school and is completely submerged already. He is delivering a paper in London in two weeks, has constructed his comp. committee and is hard at work perfecting that paper, taking classes and is teaching "God Faith and Reason" again this semester. I think he is finding it more and more rewarding (my take, not his). He even ran into an old student of his in his department and asked her how her summer was and what she was doing there. She told him that she loved his class so much that she was officially changing her major to philosophy. Wow! The hubs is truly making an impact in the lives of his students - it's awesome. Now that the U is part of the PAC-12 i'm hoping he can hooks us with some football tickets this season.

Every year around this time i get antsy for Autumn. "Why can't you just appreciate things the way that they are instead of wishing they were different", the hubs asked me last week (or he said something very very close to that). I don't always wish for things to change, I really am content here. The only thing that kills me every year is August and September. With school starting it feels like it should be fall but in reality we are far from cooler weather. Last year we didn't get much of a fall at all, with the massive snow we had in October and the high temps in September. It was nuts. I'm hoping for some beautiful Autumn this year, but I certainly will not complain if snow comes instead.

I've been running a lot. Which I am loving. Really loving. And i'm trying to throw in quirky leg strength exercises so that my body can transition to the slopes a little easier and more quickly this ski season.

I was browsing my blog in the crafty section last week while I was looking for a pattern for something...and i missed the crafty part of my life. Once the evenings get dark, I will be inside and putting together some fun stuff, I'm hoping. But as long as the sun is shining, I find it difficult to abandon the day to the inside world. And, as you know, I love to share my crafts with you, so you should see some more blogging as the summer wanes. I know, I know, I keep telling you that I will have a presence once again in this good 'ol blog. And truthfully, the only reason I am writing this right now is because the husband practically made me. But he knows what is good for me. And he knows that I love it (and love you).

There are two things I will blog about in the next few weeks (see, i'm being realistic): My 10 year reunion - i know you want to hear about it! And some of our summer adventures. So that will happen. And I won't forget.

I had a talk with a friend at work last week about grace. "I've never thought to ask a religious person this question," she said, "what is your definition of grace?" This moved us into a discussion that was interesting for the both of us. My version of grace (undeserved favor) was pretty different from hers (an elaborate gift) but both compliment the other, especially in regarding the grace that we have received from God through Jesus Christ. It's amazing, that in my work culture  (agnostic/atheist, mostly), when I speak about my faith and my beliefs, I for the first time hear my own words unfiltered by the religions culture that I always took for granted. Faith means something completely different here than anywhere else I have lived. And every time I speak of it, I must start with very raw definitions - never taking for granted that anyone knows what I mean when I use religious language. Everything needs to be deconstructed first or else I am completely misunderstood. It's a challenge. But it makes me unpack my religion into it's segmented parts and survey and scrutinize everything at a very basic and raw level. I am grateful that I follow a God that is not packaged into religious terminology and heightened emotions of his followers. God remains completely God without me, without you, without music or tithing or philosophy or church or science or mountains or religious ceremony and experience. and I am nothing without Him.