Easter and such

Having not grown up in a religious home, I didn't really have any Easter traditions before college.  Once I got to DC, my good friend Carly would host an Easter brunch at her house and I always had that to look forward to as a way to spend such an important day.  This year, we are forutnate to belong to a great church and have new friends that also enjoy spending Easter together!  I woke up in a great mood on Easter Sunday after having watched the Passion on Saturday night with Matt.  If you have not seen that movie, I highly recommend it - it truly puts tremendous visuals in your head when you read or talk about everything that Jesus went through for us.  I think it'll be a great tradition for us to watch it every Easter weekend from now on... lest we forget the amazing thing God did!  The sun was shining on Easter morning and I was excited for the day ahead - Matt was playing on the worship team at all of the services, so we planned to meet up mid-day at our friends' brunch (hosted by Keri and Joe).  I spent the rest of the morning making an awesome sausage and chedder strata to bring to the brunch and a few cupcakes to enjoy there and later when my sister came over.  I even made easter baskets for Matt, Amber, her boyfriend DJ, and I to enjoy! 

My strata is the first casserole dish on the right :)  It turned out deliciously. 

 (This pic was pre-ham, the meal was amazing!)

We had a great time at the Westras enjoying all the food and just hanging out with good people.  Couldn't have asked for better weather!  (My chest is baring a nice sunburn from all the time I spent outside that day :) )  When we got home, we met up with Amber and DJ to head to the 6pm service together.  It was a terrific sermon from our awesome pastor (his blog is pretty great if you have the time) asking what we believe about the resurrection.  In the end, he admitted that he denies the resurrection... but wait for it... he denies the resurrection by the way he often lives his life.  Do we deny the resurrection?  Do I gloss over or diminish something so miraculous and amazing by the way I conduct my life?  Certainly!  His challenge to us was to remember what Jesus went through and accomplished for us, and to live in light of those realities.  I hope that we don't deny the resurrection, because that would be to belittle the greatest thing ever done for us. 

I posted this as my facebook status on Good Friday, but I think it's a great reminder of just how loving our God is: "He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less." - CS Lewis

My mom was kind enough to drive up Sunday night and visit us for a few days - we had an awesome time just catching up and chatting about our lives.  As we get older, my sister and I have really learned a lot more about my family than we ever knew, and though it's hard to hear at times, it has been really great for both of us to know what our parents went through and how we got to where we are today.  For those of you that know me well, my mom and I always had a very rocky relationship growing up, and once she left, I was very angry at her for a long time.  It's only been in the last few years that our relationship has really been mended and we can recognize and appreciate the VAST differences between us.  Because even in those great differences, I see far more similarities in us than I'd care to admit :)  It's great having her around, and she's made such an effort to be a big part of our lives.  I love that she'll drop everything to make the drive up to Denver from New Mexico to see us (or occasionally bring us a box of Charles Shaw from Trader Joes...) :)

Amber was able to take the day off work and the three of us spent all of Monday together having a great time.  We got brunch at Snooze (YUMMM), walked the 16th Street Mall, visited Target, attempted to dye my mom's hair... it was a fun girly day. :)  We all had dinner together that night, and it felt great to be together in our house and enjoying each other's company.  Though my mom and I may see things in completely different ways most of the time, we do know how much the other cares and that's really all that matters.

Finally using our indoor "grill" :)

Wednesday night had us back at the Empire in Louisville for my dad's "Jam Knights" performance.  It's always fun to watch them play.  I feel so lucky to have so much music in the family!