color-FULL

"The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. 

My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life."

-Jesus (John 10:10)

Satan's purpose:

--steal.

--kill.

--destroy.

Jesus' purpose:

--rich + satisfying life.

So many times I feel like Satan tries to steal, kill, and destroy our happiness, our hope, and our freedom.

This week, I've been so thankful that God not only combats what Satan does, but he wants to give us a life that is RICH.  A life that is SATISFYING.  He wants us to have a life FULL of happiness, hope, and freedom.  

And on that note, I did the COLOR RUN yesterday!!  The run is said to be "The happiest 5K on earth" and let me tell you...it totally lives up to it's name!  I didn't sleep at all the night before - I was way too excited - it was like Christmas morning.  I ran with a bunch of friends from church.  The proceeds went to Children's Hospital.  While running, with each kilometer we passed, they threw colored corn starch at us.  Each kilometer was a different color and at the end, with colored packets in hand, everyone threw the color at each other! It was just an insane explosion of color and bliss!  I think I was laughing and yelling the entire way (maybe that explains my sore throat haha).  Man, I was just so thankful to be able to run and have some good ole fun!

As for Dad, he hasn't been feeling too horrible lately.  I think the biggest update is that his left arm and leg are not functioning like they should be.  The function in his left hand has become very minimal, making even the most simple tasks almost impossible to complete.  As you could imagine, it would be super frustrating to not be able to use your hand.  It has been really discouraging and frustrating for him.  We are really praying that full function will be restored to his leg, arm, hand, and whole body!  If you could pray that he doesn't feel like his hope and happiness is stolen, killed, or destroyed, that'd be great!  Also, let's pray a rich, satisfying life over him, filled with hope and joy! 

before the run : all clean! 

some of the runnin' friends 

10,000 people! 

finish line! 

These were used to help the painters at the house.  So awesome!

*sigh* someday...

Summer: tanning + reading + roof 

  

Ya, blessings

As they say in Spanish, "¡YA!"


It's finished.
My Junior year of college has come to an end.


I know I always say this but seriously...where is time going?!
These past few weeks have been utter chaos.
At the beginning of this semester I never thought I'd make it through:


1. A night class (on my sketchville campus) or
2. Survive a Friday morning class


But, huzzah!  The finish line was finally crossed on Friday afternoon and I was once again amazed by God.  Truly, it's a miracle!  There were many a times I felt like I wasn't going to make it through the semester.  The final two weeks of school were a real test of patience, sanity, and trust.  I can't even say how thankful I am that I can not only take off that load of books from my back, but also that stress can come off my shoulders.  PRAISE THE LORD FOR SUMMER BREAK!  It still feels unreal I'm really done.


My little SIL (sis-in-law), Tirza and I went to Oklahoma last weekend for my broha and his fiancé's wedding showers.  Their wedding is going to be so stinking amazing, fun and adorable.  Can't wait!  It was so great being able to get on a plane and visit them.  It was the first time since Panama that Tirz and I flew together.  Great times were had, many random people were met, and it was so great seeing the fam!  It kinda stinks though...just makes me wish, all the more, that we all lived close.  Maybe someday ;)


So...it's no real secret that running has become my greatest outlet for stress, right?  Well, it's true.  A good, long run could improve even the worst day.  MMmm yeah, well, after my little hamstring decided it no longer liked me running on it, I broke down and had to get new running shoes.  Because of numerous happenings, I was running-shoe-less for a little over two weeks.  And that is what I truly consider torture.  I thought I was going to go insane.  But, in all honesty, I think it was good for me.  Taught me a little patience, and I found there were other things I could be spending time on.  But man, when that package showed up on my doorstep I screamed and jumped with excitement, ripped the box open, and ran out the door with them (while singing "I'm Walking on Sunshine") hahaha.  So thankful for just the blessing of good shoes.  I don't want to take things like that for granted.  So many go shoeless everyday.  Puts some things in perspective, huh?


Speaking of blessings...last Saturday night I went to see THE FRAY at Red Rocks!!  I was blessed with a free ticket to the most epic night/concert of my life.  No joke, my mind was blown.  To sum it up: there was rain + fog + awesome people + city lights + awesome music + hilarious people watching + beautiful mountains.  Oh yeah, AND.....I TOUCHED the lead singer of The Fray! Hahahhaha yep, that's right!  He ran down the row in front of me!  I usually don't get real excited about "famous people" but I'm pretty proud.  Not everyone can say that, so I'm pretty pumped. hahaha it was just the cherry on top of an incredible night.  It was basically perfect.


Over the past few weeks dad did quite a few chemo treatments.  This left him feeling pretty horrid.  There were a few days he was unable to get out of bed because he was so weak and sick.  Thankfully, he is feeling a little better now.  He has been having trouble using his left hand/arm lately.  They are going to try and figure out what may be causing that.  But for now, prayers for patience & healing would be wonderful! Thanks!


The Martin household is still utter chaos.  Demo was fun for the first two days, I think.  After that, it just became insane and inconvenient.  The who main level is filled with sawdust and ripped apart rooms.  Not gonna lie, I can't wait for this to be done.  But it is fun to come home everyday and know it won't be the same as when I left in the morning.  Can't wait to see the final product!


Anyways, I hope you all are counting your blessings.
Life is too short to take things for granted.


Happy Mother's Day & Happy Summer!!

reno!

The Fray!!!

My new babies

a girl kickin' her heals off for Summer

looove Red Rocks!

ridiculous

I've been told, "You're ridiculous" more times than I could possibly count.
  This quote seemed so suiting for my life this week.  But as I thought about it, I feel this is suiting for most weeks.
  I'm not really sure how or why but I seem to attract the ridiculous, the madness, and the imperfections.


But, as I like to say...You've gotta rock what you've got or lose what you've got.
Either decide to own it or figure out how to change it.


Well, I'm not sure I can change how ridiculous I am or my life is.
Trust me, there are days I wish I did not dump yogurt down my shirt because I somehow missed my mouth (seriously, how is that possible?  It's been in the same spot for 20 years!).
Haha but, I believe God made us all unique and wonderfully flawed and broken so He can show how grace-filled and perfect He is.
Might as well embrace it, right?!


So, on that note, this week:


--I've been trying to increase my running distance lately.  However, each time I ran the past few times, my left hamstring got tighter and tighter despite my persistent stretching.  So, on Thursday I was stretching in prep for working out when all of the sudden....SNAP goes the hamstring.  Pain went shooting through my whole leg.  Half of me was in shock...the other half was just mad I wasn't going to be able to run.  So, I did what you should clearly do when you think you tore your hamstring...I worked out! hahaha.  I got on that rowing machine (pictured below).  I went so long and hard I was openly grunting (yeah...I was one of those people).  On that note, I hobbled my sweaty self out of the gym.  The rest of the night was spent with my good friend Ibuprofen.  I just prayed all night that it wasn't torn and put an electrical stim unit on it.  Miraculously, I woke up in no pain.  Hammy was all good.  I was walking.  Umm...PRAISE GOD!  Sooo thankful it's not torn.


--Sunday I woke up, got ready for church, headed out the door, hopped in the car and rolled the window down to catch some early morning sunshine.  Within minutes my head was ON FIRE.  It felt like someone poured boiling hot water over my head which caused a stinging, pin-poking feeling.  I thought I might have got sunburnt the day before.  Tried to ignore it, and kept on driving.  A few minutes later and my face, neck, chest were hot, bright red and super painful.  Trying to keep from sheer panic, I headed back to my house and frantically showed my parents.  By this time I could feel the heat going to my legs.  As I tried to open the package of Benadryl pills, just the light touch of my hair on my shoulders was super painful.  Finally I popped two pills in my mouth and headed for the couch.  Next thing I know I woke up super drugged out of my mind but I was out of pain and the rash (or whatever the freak that was) was gone!  Seriously...is this normal?!


--Poor Lynds & Jess had to deal with my drugged self as Brice escorted us to a hike.  I apparently could not walk a straight line or think clearly.  But, thankfully, by the time we go to the hike I was (mostly) normal and we had a lovely hike in Golden!


--Another one of my professor's mom was said to have only a few days to live.  Man, so sad!  So, another class hits the dust.  It's just madness, I tell ya.


--I LOVE DEMO.  Yep, that's right.  Demolition and I go hand-in-hand!  All of Monday was spent tearing down walls, pulling off drywall, smashing tiles and getting down and dirty.  It was so much fun!  Our house is somewhat of a disaster now but it'll totally be worth the final product.  I can't wait to see it!  Now when I am at people's houses I just think about ripping down their walls.  No joke.  I'm slightly obsessed with it.  Haha, just rock it, right?!


--Last blog I said Dad was at the hospital because of pain he was having.  Well, they couldn't find anything wrong so they just sent him home all drugged up.  He has been feeling pretty crappy all of last week and this week.  Also, he got another chemo treatment yesterday.  So, we are just praying that he will have a better few days comin' up real soon :)


My life is ridiculous.  I am [ever so slightly] ridiculous.  
That's probably true for most people (unless you're in denial).
So let's just rock it  ;)

love these girlies!

I just really love pretending I'm rowing on a lake while doing this...haha

Easter

Happy (late) Easter!


So thankful for our God that made his son rise from the dead.
It's just crazy that we can live because He died. 


Easter was filled with family and food (like all good holidays).
It was a little different this year.  But, I can't complain. 


Hiked the incline last Saturday.
Talk about burn!  So many stinkin' steps!  It was awesome to get to the top though.  Running down I took a little spill.  I was just sad my knee looked gross for my cute Easter outfit. haha it was so swollen and gross.  But other than that it was so splendid!  I'm hoping to hike or do something outdoors every weekend when the weather is nice :)  We'll see how that goes. 


Yesterday was spent cleaning the garage.  Gotta love Spring cleaning, right?
Well, let's just say... we found some buried treasures in there.


Went to see the little bro play with his band at the Gothic Theater.
Check them out.  Their band's name is "The Fairgrounds"


Dad has been continuing with chemo treatment.
He's at the hospital right now with mom. He was having symptoms like he had when his lung collapsed.  They said his lung didn't collapse but they are still trying to figure out what is wrong.


This week at school has been INSANE.
It's that time of year again when everything is due at once.


Last Thursday was such a weird day at school because:
1. One of my teachers told us she was canceling class for the rest of the year.  She said her mom was diagnosed with cancer and she had to go out to be with her.  So crazy/shocking/sad.  Keep her in your prayers!


2. Was waiting for the lightrail when a homeless guy came up to me and asked if I had spare change.  I said no.  Then, for some reason, we started talking.  Haha, we ended up talking for at least fifteen minutes about the meaning of life and what keeps you going.  Have you ever had one of those moments when you think, "Wow.  That had to have been planned by God"?  It was such a moment and it was really obvious it was from God.  Anyways, this old gent's name was Nick.  Pray he will come to see God as the one he truly needs.


3. Once on the lightrail, I witnessed a drug deal. haha you think I'm joking.  I'm not.  One guy paid his friend $50 for weed.  Then the lady across from me leaned across the aisle to ask the dealer for something.  The dealer told her he only had weed.  With wide, creepy eyes and twitching shoulders, she said she needed, "the other stuff."  Ummm yeah.  Needless to say, I memorized everything about all of them from head to toe.  Haha so sketch.

View from the top of the Incline in Manitou

concert

family

Gabbi's first Easter!

rusted old tools

used, web-filled mouth guard. haha so gross...

April?

Woah, woah, woah.
It's already APRIL!?!
This is just madness, I tell ya.  Time is flying by!


Spring break has already come and gone.  It was filled with blissful, extended amounts of time outdoors hiking or running.  Haha I got so sunburnt.  It was great.  Everyone deserves at least a few days off to enjoy the sun every once in a while.  It clears the mind.  Makes everything seem alright with the world again.  If it were up to me, I would spend one day in the city with society then run away to the mountains and just live outdoors.  One day of real life, then one day of sheer bliss.  Haha...I can dream, right?


This week I'm off work!  Woohoo!  It feels like I have Spring break all over again.  Well...kinda.  Projects and papers seem to be piling up in this final month of school.  That's how it always is though.  
Just one more month.  Just one more month.  Just one more month!


Over the course of the last few weeks, dad had to go to the hospital once.  He was having severe abdomen pain and had to stay over night.  But, thankfully they were able to fix that with no problem.  While we were there, they found that part of his lung was collapsed again.  However, they were unable to operate on it so they just told him to stay on lots of oxygen.  Also...


drum roll please...


they said the tumors have shrunk a little bit!! Wwwwwoooooooooohooooo!  Praise God!  We're praying that continues in these coming months.


So, he is continuing with chemo treatment.  They want him to keep doing chemo until the tumors stop shrinking.  With this glimmer of hope, dad seems to be in higher spirits and is currently making plans for a long fishing trip.  He's been wanting to go fish for over two years now so I'm thinkin' this is the Summer to do it (Lord willing)!  I'm praying he'll continue to feel better so we're able to do some of the things he has been dreaming about during these rough winter months. 


This last weekend was so stinkin' wonderful and gorgeous!  I got to spend a few days on Mount Evans with the college group from my church.  Hahaha...it was totally ridiculous, hilarious, and just altogether great.  We played card games, cooked, drank delish coffee, roasted marshmallows, played Korean games that involved slapping each other, improv, deep conversations, building a fire by the lake at midnight, falling asleep to the crackling of the fire, hiking, running, playing in the river, and getting to know each other...real well.  So thankful for awesome friends, God, and gorgeous mountains.

I could look at this everyday.  Never gets old.

retreat! 

adventure downtown: on the hunt for a bridesmaid dress!

Reading this in the ER.  haha I love this book.

sunrise in the city 

every once in a while...I love downtown

sick stick

 

But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God.
I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.

I will praise you forever, O God,
for what you have done.
I will trust in your good name
in the presence of your faithful people.

(Psalm 52:8-9)

I got hit with the sick stick this week.

WHAAAAAAAAAAM!

Just like that.  Took me off my feet for most week/weekend.

Everyday (minus Saturday) was spent on the couch.

Saturday I felt like I was getting better (haha what a joke) so I took my little nieces out for the day then went to see Valor High School's play.  If you're not busy this weekend, you should go see their play - it will be the best high school production you'll ever see.  Get details here: ValorArts.com.

I took some cute little pictures of my day at the park with my nieces!  Check them out here: brookemartinfoto.blogspot.com! 

 Dad Update:

- Last week he got another chemo treatment.

- He felt really sick after this treatment.  Feeling flu-like symptoms. He said he's never felt so sick in his life.  :(  Poor papa

- This week they didn't do another treatment because he wasn't feeling up to it.  So, they postponed it til next week.

 

Found an art gallery at school!  haha who knew?!

Out to lunch with these two gorgeous girls

haha I think I wore them out...

OFFICIAL first day of flip-flop wearing and sun bathing of the year! :)

His train

Midterms have been in full swing last week and this week.  Projects, tests, studying...

However, I was able to sprinkle my week with a little bliss by doing a photoshoot!  You can check it on the Photography Blog!

In other news, I went to a college group on Friday night that was just...incredible.  The guy who spoke talked about this scripture:

¹ It was in the year King Uzziah died^[a] that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. ² Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. ³ They were calling out to each other, 

   “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies!
      The whole earth is filled with his glory!” 

 ⁴ Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.

 ⁵ Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.”

 ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. ⁷ He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.” 

 ⁸ Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”

   I said, “Here I am. Send me.”  

(Isaiah 6:1-8)

On Friday, the speaker talked about how the word "train" refers to God's holiness.  So, just imagine a huge throne room and the train of God's robe (His pureness) filling the whole place.  

In this moment, Isaiah realized how sinful he was.  In the presence of God, when he was so close to God's purity, he was able to see how sinful he was.  He said, "I'm doomed."  

He confessed that he was a man of "filthy lips."  Right after he said this, a seraphim got a coal from the altar and touched his lips.  He was then purified, by God, in the area he was most sinful: his mouth.  

After all this happened, he was then able to respond to God and accept his calling to be a messenger for the people.

I had never heard this scripture taught like that.  I love how it is so descriptive of how God works in our lives.

When we draw near to Him - when we know Him intimately - we are able to see how screwed up we are.  It's that moment of, "Dang it...I'm so messed up."  However, when we are raw and honest with God, He is able to take a coal from His altar and heal us from it.

So, let's strive for rawness with God. Yeah?

DAD update:

-He's back home!  Yippeee!

-They did not have to do the surgery on him because his lung remained inflated.

-He is going back to the oncologist today to check his numbers and possibly do a chemo treatment.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers!

Mile High sunset via the car

Empty hallways = upside to Friday morning classes

Getting through the creepy lightrail tunnel while it's still light!

My happy place on campus