Sept. 11th: Their stories

My heart aches for the families and loved ones of those killed six years ago tomorrow. In the past few years, I've been mesmerized by many nonfiction novels written by widows, survivors, journalists and others about the Sept. 11th attacks.

My favorite book (and the one that piqued my interest in this genre) is "Love, Greg & Lauren" by Greg Manning. The novel is essentially a compilation of his frequent journal-styled e-mails that he sent updating loved ones about the status of his wife, who suffered burns on 82.5 percent of her body in the Twin Towers, as she recovered. Miraculously, she survives. I was thrilled when the latest edition was published, with a new chapter updating readers about their lives.

Another gripping read is "Let's Roll!" by Lisa Beamer, wife of Todd Beamer, who died on United Flight 93. This one, for obvious reasons, was much more difficult to read. You better have a box of Kleenex nearby if you're going to crack open this one. My mother-in-law loved this book so much that one Christmas she gave copies to many of her friends.

Brian asked me once why I put myself through the emotions of reading such books. To me, it boils down to wanting a glimpse into these people's lives and into the life lessons Sept. 11th taught them. Many are blatantly honest about the rage, sorrow and hatred they've felt. But their stories of survival, courage and how they've moved on -- even simply getting out of bed each day -- paints a picture that depicts life and humanity in ways no other experience could produce. Sept. 11th created so many heroes in our country, and for me, many of them are the writers.

Take a hike

One of my favorite things about a trip to Petit Jean is the great hiking. Just like last year, Brian attempted to persuade me to go on the 12-mile Boy Scout Trail (before embarking on it, you actually have to register with the state so they know to look for you if you don't come home at night). Fortunately, the rainy weather pretty much made it impossible for us to go anyway. My favorite hiking photo from the trip so far (we still have a couple of disposable cameras to develop) is this one above, of Brian in Rock House Cave. The cave is a large rock shelter that has pictographs from its early Native American residents. Brian's pointing to one here.

A lot of the trails crisscross each other. Here's a photo I took during a trail mix snack break. I'm sitting on a rock jutting out over a 75-foot drop along part of the Boy Scout trail that we followed. See the wooden bridge at the bottom of the ravine? We had crossed that a couple of days before when we were hiking the Cedar Creek Trail. Like many of the trails in the park, workers in the Civilian Conservation Corps built it in the early 1930s.

We kept our eyes open for interesting flora and fauna, including leaves that already had started to turn fall colors. Brian also discovered adorably cute and freakishly small frogs along the trail. See it in his hand below? I love the face Brian's making as he inspects his amphibious friend.



















Other scenes from the trail:

Why I love cabin fever

Cabin No. 17, how I love thee. Let me count the ways ...

Last week, Brian and I returned to the cabin at Arkansas' Petit Jean State Park where we stayed in April '06. It has breathtaking views, air conditioning and more. A short walk to a lodge, small shop, pool and restaurant -- as well as miles of hiking trails -- it's a perfect blend of roughing it and relaxing. Let me take you on a tour of sorts:

It's difficult to see, but the cluster of cabins where we stay is on the top of this bluff. (We hiked to a lookout point across the ravine to get this photo. More on our hikes later.)

The cabin has a great back porch with a swing. It provided shade when it was sunny and shelter from soothing rainstorms, which came nearly every day.

It was where we enjoyed our morning cup of coffee and devoured our vacation reads. (I totally ate up -- make that drank up -- "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. My book club selected it for our September read. I loved it!) Brian also played his guitar for the enjoyment of our neighboring woodland creatures. Who knew that squirrels and raccoons don't really like John Denver after all?!

Other great reading spots:












The cabin offers two places to cook: a fully stocked kitchen and a grill we put to good use. You've never really had an omelet until you've cooked one on a grill. Throughout the week, we also prepared banana-walnut and blueberry pancakes, pulled pork slow-roasted in a dutch oven and grilled ribeye. Good thing we hiked between two and seven miles a day!

The views were spectacular, too, whether it was sunup or sundown.

Farewell, cabin 17! We'll see you again soon.

Home, sweet, home

After a week on the road for a wonderful vacation, Brian and I are home tonight snuggling up with our silly pets, whom we missed terribly while we were away. (I know, pathetic and strange, isn't it?) I have so much to share about our great trip since my last post from Amanda's Arkansas apartment, but for now I'll post these photos from our drive today from McAlester, Okla., back to Wichita:

We lunched at Eskimo Joe's (aka "Stillwater's jumpin' little juke joint"), a collegiate favorite in Stillwater, Okla. (home to Oklahoma State University). While we've lived in the Midwest for years, neither of us had been to this popular hangout. The "Pokes" had a home football game today, so the town was packed with orange-clad fans. The band stopped by the joint to play several fight songs I didn't know. Brian and I yelled "Go Jayhawks!" when we were supposed to cheer for OSU. Nobody seemed to mind (probably because they couldn't hear us). I'm by no means a Cowboy fan, but the environment was a blast. Later in the day, the Cowboys and Jayhawks each won their home games, so it's all good.

The rowdy and inebriated OSU students were taking lots of photos of their friends at Eskimo Joe's, posing in "shoot-'em-dead-Cowboys" stances. Brian and I tried our own sarcastic version, just for fun during our drive:


We stopped to stretch our legs in Ponca City, Okla., where this striking 17-foot-tall cast-bronze statue caught my eye. (It's of a pioneer mother and her son, was dedicated in 1930 and is displayed near the Pioneer Woman Museum.)

We also posed for our own Kodak moments while there:














Once we found our way back to Kansas, we did some antique shopping in the small towns along the way and admired the gorgeous sunflowers growing along the highway.

Well, Dakota and Lilly, there's no place like home.

Two must-dos

For Brian, vacation just wouldn't be complete without some golf. Fortunately, Amanda and Kurtis live on a golf course. So the boys headed out first thing this morning. Here's Brian warming up:

Make that Capt. Brian. (You can see Kurtis and Amanda to the captain's right.)

And a trip to Arkansas (especially here in the Bentonville area) wouldn't be complete without a jaunt to your friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart. So while they guys were goofing off ... er, I mean teeing off, the girls ran to the most upscale Wal-Mart on earth (I'm not even kidding) to get fixins' for a buffalo burger dinner and more.

Football frenzy

My favorite college sport to watch is men's basketball, hands down. But my favorite season is fall, which means that I love watching college football, too. The atmosphere of college campuses and crazy fans mixed with the gorgeous view of turning leaves and a chilly nip in the air (at least later in the season) make being a football fan so much fun. Brian and I will be making the journey to Lawrence at least twice this fall to see KU play. But this year, we got things kicked off by rooting for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks at their first home game of the season.

We drove to Fayetteville Saturday morning, met up with Amanda and headed to campus. The place was nuts. The football stadium seats 72,000 people -- 22,000 more than KU's Memorial Stadium. Unlike KU, the University of Arkansas is a big football school. People were camped out in RVs and swarmed the grounds to get ready for the 6 p.m. game. Many wore No. 5 for Heisman hopeful Darren McFadden. (Amanda said they call him Run D.M.C. and D Mac in these here parts.) He had an awesome game. The Razorbacks defeated the Trojans of Troy University, 46-26. We also got to watch from the very posh club level:

Confession: I wore a Razorback T-shirt to the game and cheered for the Razorbacks. (Don't worry, Jayhawks, I still love you best.) In my defense, Amanda gave me the shirt as a gift. And I DID NOT do that silly sooie chant or whatever they call their cheer. I was pleased to hear that KU won and K-State lost their games, which were going on at the same time.

As if those things weren't enough to make it a perfect Saturday, I got to catch up with my baby sis, enjoy beautiful weather and spend QT with my husband on our anniversary.

Here's to six years

Today, Brian and I celebrate our six-year wedding anniversary. Our wedding was an incredible day, and we were surrounded by those who love us most. We've learned a lot about marriage and each other since then. Hopefully the next six years will serve us as well.

Thanks to all of you who continue to support our relationship and who share it with us!