What's For Dinner?

We had a delightful dinner last night with three of our couples-friends.  The kids were all gone to church groups so we all had a couple of free hours.  So everyone headed over to our pad and I served a couple courses of food for dinner.  First, as an appetizer I made satay beef, spinach dip and ginger shrimp.  We followed that up with an Asian salad with honey vinaigrette dressing.  The main courses was seared ahi tuna with oriental noodles and garlic beans.  Then for dessert after it all we had tahetian vanilla gelato with a little dough-bite, raspberries and butterscotch sauce.  As an added bonus, we used the fancy schmancy plates and wine glasses that we got for our wedding over a decade ago and have been used only a handful of times. 

As good as the dinner was, the company was even better and the night as a whole was a success.  That leaves only two things left to do (half of my scrapbooking and the splits).  We are almost done!

The Root of the Words

Over the year I have chosen 40 different verses from the bible for varying reasons that I wanted to analyze the differences in their translations.  As it turns out, I compared about 18-22 different versions of the bible and there are some remarkable differences.  Come on people!  I get that "stop" and "halt" and "cease" are all synonyms, but once I looked though all of the verses I found that less than 20% were essentially the same translation.  I made a note of each of these differences and figured out which was the most common translation, it's original language of authorship, who wrote it, who the audience was and when it was written.  For a lot of the verses, people just plain don't know those answers. 

From here, going forward, I would like to take this a step further and look into other places that these words are used to get the best translation of each word and review the bible codes to see if there is any hidden words in each verse.  It's all very interesting and enough to make and break faith for many folks.

I just keep telling myself that God has ways to achieve his goals so if he wanted the bible to say something then my opinion is that it is probably in there.  The fine line then is what it is that God really said and what is man's translation of God's word.  Therein lies the point of faith.

Things don't require faith if you can prove them.

Bedtime

Well I finished my e-book!  I wrote, designed and published it on Snapfish. It's a children's book about a young girl named Lizzy who is getting ready for bed.  Unfortunately Snapfish doesn't allow me to show it to you via internet.  I had to print the book.  Ask me someday when you're visiting if you want to see the hard copy.  I did the best I could to get the story into smilebox too but they asked me the ransom one of the kids in exchange to pay for it.  So after much deliberation...I guess I shall post the images here and you can scroll through them at your leisure:

 

2 down, 7 to go!

We spent last weekend out on Lake Havasu with a great group of fun folks.  Just being out there in our 85' pontoon boat was awesome, but then we made a stop one day to have a Jello/Food/Paint/etc fight on one of the shores and WOW - What a GREAT HIGHLIGHT TO A FUN TRIP! 

Here's a shot of our houseboat...

If you're wondering to yourself "What is that on the roof?" It's a hot tub and a barbeque area and several lounge chairs, and they were all awesome.  Oh yeah, and there was a slide from the top story which was super fun!  With four bedrooms and two baths, two lower decks, big screen TV, surround sound stereo, a full kitchen and living/dining rooms I almost considered just launching one on our lake and moving out of our house.

As for the food fight...Well, it was super fun too.  Here's the before (notice our war paint) and the after (OI! It was IN.MY.NOSE.).  Of course, we couldn't convince everyone to participate, but it was still super fun, more ammo for the rest of us!

A Few Days Alone

Hubby and I recently got to spend a few days alone, riding a motorcycle along the Kern River and stopping when we wanted to fish or were done for the night.  There was no schedule, no responsibilities, no worries...just relaxing time with my sweetheart.  I love getting chances like this to reconnect with him and shut the world out from time to time.  He's a pretty neat guy when I have a few moments to stop and pay attention to each him.  It's just so easy sometimes to let life get in the way and I need reminders of how great we are together.

Fun in Vegas with the Girls

The week before Independence day some girlfriends and I headed out to Vegas for a quick break.  We were only out there a couple days but we made the most of it.  We went to see the BlueMan Group, had sushi, played craps, rode the HUGE ferris wheel, relaxed in the lazy river, played vegas peoplewatching bingo, and best of all....

WE WENT ZIP-LINING!!! 

We rode the line above Freemont street in downtown Vegas where you ride above the crowds and below the lightshow.  We almost didn't get to ride because there was a huge thunder and lightning storm that was just making it's way to the strip.  Lucky for us though, they re-opened just long enough for us to get in a ride.  It was so very very very fun and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

1 Trip, 3 checked list items

On our trip to the east coast this summer we were able to fit in THREE of the items from the list.  First, we went kayaking one morning in Mystic Seaport.  Girls rode together and boys rode together.  My little man was able to even catch a couple fish in the river that morning! - CHECK #1!

Also, the first night we were there my dad ordered up a lobster hoagie and then on our way south along the coast, we stopped for lunch and I had a lobster roll.  It was delicious.  - CHECK #2!

 

 I decided to also try a novelty item to accompany it - Birch beer.  It was alright, but I couldn't finish half of it.  It was TOO bubbly.  The kids enjoyed finishing it off for me though.

 And last but not least, Check #3 was the four of us posing for a picture, standing in the Atlantic ocean.  It wasn't such a big deal, but I can say I've been there.  I may be biased, but I like the Pacific better.  It was a beautiful day near Groton, Connecticut so we appreciated a stop along on our trip.

My Next 20 Years

Dear Me,

Well, if the last 40 years flew by quicker and quicker then I can only imagine that by the time you're reading this, it will feel like you had only just written it a short time ago.

So here are my four hopes;

I hope that I will have taken the initiative to DO things when the urge strikes because before I know it, it is too late and the final results would have already been achieved.  Have we sat and sulked or gotten off of our butts and finished something?  If not, it needs to happen because there is no tomorrow anymore.  There is only today.

I hope that I will have taken time to spend with my husband.  It is amazing to think that it has been 13 years that we have been married and over 20 since we met but by the time you are reading this, it will be 4 decades.  That is a long time to keep a promise to God and without taking the time for each other it will be very difficult.  Every time I make time for him I am thankful for what a wonderful husband I have been blessed with.  It is only in the hustle and bustle of life that we lose patience with each other.

I hope that I will have taken time to spend with my kids.  As time flies by faster and faster the kids grow more and more independent. Lily is currently in her 3rd year of ballet and loves Taylor Swift and painting her toenails and sleepovers.  Trevor has just discovered Star Wars and is the biggest kid in his class.  They both have so much potential.  By the time I am reading this, Lily will be almost 30 and Trevor will be close behind.  I don't dare to pray for things that they will have achieved or accomplished by then because God's plans are so much greater than mine.  They are both the most amazing blessings and I hope that I can share as much as possible with them while they will let me.

I hope that I will have sustained my relationship with God.  It's not a church thing, although that helps.  It's a communication thing.  It's hearing his voice in my heart and relying on him throughout the day.  Things happen in life to people that cause them to lose their faith or fall away from God and I earnestly hope that I can keep the perspective of God's plan for me as the years progress.

Right now I have enough clients with tax returns to file to work when I want to and clean when I can.  We try to travel if we can because we know it gets harder as we get older.  Will we have taken the time to go places or have gotten too caught up in our lives to plan for time away?

Grandma Pearl turns 100 in about 45 days.  I am looking forward to seeing her at her party and spending time with Mom and Dad and Eddie and Erika before we make the long RV trip back from Oregon with the kids.  Dave is in his second year of insurance sales and the first year went well so we have pretty high hopes for this year as well.  The house is almost complete in it's remodel and now there will be room for the kids to have their own rooms.  At this point however, they enjoy sharing a room so it's a shame to split them up.  Scott and Julie are moving in across the street and Trevor and Grady couldn't be happier about being able to play with someone in their neighborhood.

At almost 40 it seems selfish to ask for anything more than 40 years I already have of blessings.  People say that God gives folks only what they can handle so it concerns me that either I can't handle much or God has something big in store for me.  I think I prefer the former.  Well, by the time this letter is read I suppose I will know that answer.  I hope you still remember how much God loves you whether the blessings continue or you get sacrificed to the volcano in a grass skirt.  Life is a wild ride and His plan for us is for us to prosper.

Love,
Your former self

Fancy Schmancy

Well, you can't really tell from these pictures, but I got a great haircut this summer.  I was referred to a local salon by several ladies on our mountain and they were right.  The salon is in the process of transferring owners and the new owner and retiring owner both gave me consultation on my hair and the new owner performed the artistry.  She added some layers for body, but not too long.  She sculpted my bangs and adjusted my part.  And then finally, for a little fun, she added "peek-a-boos" of color (a few small streaks under my normal color).  I've gotten several compliments on it and plan to go back to her in the fall.  HOORAY!  

138.8

So here was my secret:

1)  Get the bad flu - didn't eat for 3 days and lost 5 lbs
2)  Get appendicitis - didn't eat for 3 days and lost 4 lbs

Besides that?  I just stopped eating so much crap. 

It's not that I don't eat ANY junk, I just cut down the volume from truckloads to garbage bags.  Seriously though.  It was rather easy to go from 155 to 150.  That sort of just happened with training for the run.  Then I got sick and went down to 145.   I hung around that weight for about 3 months.  Then I had surgery and went down to 141.

From 141 to 139 was the hardest.  My scale would ready 140.6 or 141.3 off and on with no rhyme or reason as to my excercise or eating habits.  Then school started back up and I got on a regular schedule.  Somehow one day it just happened.  I didn't skip any meals.  In fact, I intentionally ate breakfast when I didn't use to always do that.  My staple breakfast is ham and egg(s).  I've found that some protein in the morning helps me not snack so much before lunch. 

This morning I was at 138.8 (down from 139.6) and yesterday I had 3 cookies so who the heck knows?  I try to choose good snacks and if I crave something I eat only a little of it and keep less junk in the house to fend off temptations.  It was just like that - Less Junk.  Thank goodness this worked out before Halloween because I am a sucker for snacksize candy bars....

Dear Me

Dear 13-year-old me,

It's hard to image you were almost 3 decades ago.  1988?  Yikes.  Try not to get caught up in the fashion insanity.  I have five things to tell you, so listen up. 

First find something reliable to build your life around and stick with that - like sports.  Stick with basketball and track because you like it, and are good at it, even when you eventually get beat.  Despite what some people will say, being involved in sports is important because it keeps you out of trouble and is a useful outlet of that ridiculous amount of energy you have.  Enjoy it now because by the time you're 40 you will need to drink some caffeine to feel that way.  Keep running and jumping and kicking and hurdling.  It will keep you healthy, eventually take you good places and introduce you to important people in your life.


Second, you are a sponge right now.  Soak in all of the knowledge that you can handle.  Eventually you will have so much LIFE going on that it is hard to find time to pick up a book or take a class and you will fall back on those things that you learn in high school and college.  There are many key lessons to be absorbed and even if you miss the details, the bigger picture will stick.  Keep direction and soak it all in.

Also, thank you for going to church.  Even if it's not the church you eventually become a member of, it is the foundation of your relationship with God.  And even if it doesn't answer all of your questions, it makes you ask them and that is important.  Remember, if all of the answers were known, it wouldn't be called faith.


A hard reality to accept is that God believes that you are beautiful and one day you will look back at these pictures and wonder what all the fuss was about.  Stop over-analyzing and worrying about pimples and hairs out of place and whether your belt matches your shoes.  Being thin is not a fault, it's an asset and you will one day be so very thankful for healthy genes.  By this time you have dated and by the way, none of them is not THE ONE...but then you know that.  There is a "THE ONE" for you and you won't meet him for a while so in the meantime, you are young - have fun and try not to take it all so seriously.  God's timing is perfect.


Finally, high school is about to start for you.  Girls are mean.  As nice as you try to be to them, there will be ones who are not nice back.  There's just no other way to put that.  Be nice to people and forgive them like you would one day hope to be forgiven.  Some are going to hurt your feelings, others are going to betray your trust and eventually only two or three of them stay in touch with you until you are 40.  But guess what?  Those are the only ones who really mattered anyway and you know who they are.  I just wish you knew how to focus on those good relationships and stop trying to please everyone who doesn't really eventually matter.  When your feelings eventually get hurt by a girl or boy, try to keep perspective that in 4 years (which seems like an eternity now I'm sure, but trust me...er...you, it goes fast), you will all part ways and go out into the world and your life will consist only of those people that you allow into it.  Be discerning because each person will have an influence on you.  Not all of them will be good and not all of them will be bad.  A big part of the next decade will be learning to tell the difference.

To be very non-specific, things work out.  It's a great ride and your family is amazing and eventually, all the last three decades are worth whatever trials occur because it brings you here, to almost 40, and happy, and blessed. 

Sincerely,
Your older self

My New Pals

I made friends with three of the NICEST ladies this year.

The first is my friend, Jen and she just moved out from Nebraska with her husband and son and daughter who just happen to be both of my kids' ages.  My kids were both nagging me to go on a playdate with her kids and finally I relented and we took them bike riding last fall.  Now, don't get me wrong.  Every first meeting is awkward and has brief, uncomfortable pauses, but Jen and I seemed to get along pretty well right from the start.  That was almost a year ago and I can honestly say she's become one of my better friends here on the mountain now.  As much as I let anyone in, she has clicked pretty well with me and our kids definitely get along great.  Now I just hope her husband (who works for the railroad) doesn't get transferred away from the mountain.

The second is Johanna.  Her youngest daughter and mine are in the same class and have known each other for about 4 years now.  Johanna and I have KNOWN each other that long but didn't really have time to talk much between all the runnings about that moms tend to do.  For some reason this year our schedules melded better and she has become someone I can really rely upon and talk to.

The last is my neighbor, Kristi.  Haha, funny, huh?  My neighbor of TEN YEARS or so and we finally meet and guess what, she's not crazy or boring or annoying or anything!  We actually get along really well and she will even put up with me when we golf, which is saying something because I'm not a great golfer.

It's cool because in setting out to make "A FRIEND" I opened myself up to several people and wound up being blessed with a few rather than one.  Each lady is different in many ways and as it turns out, that is what makes each of them such a good fit.  Plus, they put up with me, which is saying quiet a lot.

Never Again

Those folks are nutso.

First I got passed by a fit dude in a Peter Pan costume....moderately frustrating but acceptable.  He was probably a regular runner, dressed in costume.

THEN I got passed by a larger Peter Pan dude.  Slightly humiliating but I was happy to have made it 7 miles in the run so I took it in stride.

But finally, in the last mile, while I was walking and just happy to finish...I got passed by a peter pan dude who was so big that one would think he had no business running a half marathon.  And yet, here I was, NOT in costume, mind you, walking my last mile. 

I was humbled to say the least. 

I was also passed by a dude in full Jedi regalia, complete with robe and light saber, a fully costumed alice and white rabbit (I'm talking - baseball mascot costume style), a couple Maleficents, a Donald Duck and about 101 dalmations....friggin' ridiculious.

BUT!  I finished.  In 5075th place, but I finished.  Here's a link to my time. Thanks to MarathonFoto.com for providing proof that I was there.  The picture even says "Proof" - haha!

Soooo....that happened.  I will not be signing up for this next year.  My darling sister ran with me though and finished way ahead of me, like a rockstar.  I'll leave the distance running to her.

Out With the Old

We have been in remodel mode for about 5 months now.  My sweetheart has been working his tail off to make this nest a little bigger and one of those honey-do items is installing closets in our master bedroom.  Finally, last weekend they were completed (although I still need to paint them) so I was able to move back in!  Part of that process was discarding anything I haven't worn in a year or so and those things that I see myself in pictures and think "What was I THINKING?!?"  I got rid of two big garbage bags of clothes and it felt GREAT.

Who Knew?

He knew.

With a capital H...He.

I made myself get a primary care physician last fall for no real apparent reason (a wart on my toe).  His only recommendation to me?  - take vitamin D supplements.

And then?

Then I came home one night this August with pain in my abdomen and vomited all night.  I thought it was food poisoning but after about 2 minutes in his office, he sent me to the emergency room and kept me from having a ruptured appendix by correctly diagnosing appendicitis. 

A surgery and a month of recovery later I am fit as a fiddle with only a couple minor scars. 

God has perfect timing.

Quiet Time

We recently spent a week up at the Yuba river in Northern California.  A peculiar (and welcome) aspect of the area is that there is virtually no cell phone reception anywhere in the valley.  Which means we all got/had to uplug from our technology and pay attention to each other.  It was a welcome change.

Part of that experience for me was that after everyone had gone to bed I stayed up for about half an hour, getting ready and then sitting....JUST SITTING in the quiet stillness of nature.  There was no buzzing of TVs or phones or computers or even heaters.  It was still and peaceful.  It is amazing how God will speak to your heart when you stop and listen intently to what he has to say.  Each night there was a different element of my life that I found myself drawn to focus on and dwell on, if only for that still quiet moment.  It was a little condemning, kind of releasing and very rewarding.  It's too bad that my brain does not tend to do this at home. 

More MNOs

In March, a few of us moms got together and spent a night down the hill at Paintnite.  We had appetizers, a drink or two and were led through an art project where we painted our own canvases.  What a fun, relaxing way to get some time off.

 Then one of my friends came back into town after having moved away and we had an MNO in July to visit with her and catch up

 

It's been nice to take a little time away to get a breather every now and then.  I am so lucky to have such a great group of ladies in our little mountain community.

All About Nehamiah

That study was SO frustrating.  It is essentially a story about a people who want to build their temple but are being oppressed by the government so it takes a long time to get anything done.  Our church is undergoing a very similar circumstance and to see it played out in the bible only reiterates how wrong it is that we cannot build our new facility.

Yes, I finished the Nehamiah study.  No, I am not happy about it.

Well, LA - TEE- FRIGGIN' - DAH!

My husband is a showoff.  The blood rushes to my head when I do this.  Maybe I wasn't meant to do this move...downward dog anyone?

A Cool Story

Hubby and I were headed west to a golf tournament and we landed in a town called Agua Caliente (hot water?)...

It was early morning and we walked about a half mile or so to a small diner for some breakfast.

As we sat there, enjoying our meals, we realized that several folks in the tables around us had backpacks and figured out quickly that the diner was smack dab in the middle of the PCT (Pacific Coast Trail).  These were all hikers going from Mexico to Canada along the mountain ranges who were just stopping for a bite to eat. 

We struck up a conversation with one nice couple who were quick to tell us all about their schedule and the perils of the trip and were very open and engaging which made our meals go by quickly.  We were soon done and on our way to pay the check then back to the plane and it hit me - "Pay their bill"...

So we did.  We didn't tell them.  They don't know us.  We don't know them.  They just needed to be blessed by a couple of strangers.

It was perfect.

I Hate to Dust

Let me preface this comment with the qualification that I do not use or like the word "hate".  I dislike many things, prefer not to do some activities, and would rather not associate with certain folks...but normally I shy away from the word "hate".

In this case however, it is warranted.  I have NO JOY in dusting.  Add to that a strong dislike of cleaning floors and anything associated with the bathroom (really, who DOES?) and I realized which activity I was doing that brought me no joy - CLEANING.

YAY!  We hired a wonderful woman to come in once a week and clean the floors, dust the nooks and crannies and clean bathrooms.  Goodbye joyless cleaning!  Good riddance!!!!

I still do the laundry and the dishes and cook meals and wash windows (occasionally) and make beds and straighten and fluff and fold and clean counters and the fridge and the oven and, and, and...but those few horrible tasks are now being taken care of for me and I LOVE it.  Totally worth the investment~

PS - she is under no circumstances even allowed in my room.  I have to draw the line somewhere.

Henna Party!

Here's my art:

And Here's the other ladies...

My Little 2-Plankers

They had all of thier ski lessons this year and LOVED it.  

This is definitely something we will continue in the future.

Helping People Feels Good

One more checked off the LIST!  There's another blood drive in September so maybe I'll get 3 in and surpass my goal...

 The kids were so patient while I donated blood.  They sat out on the grass and played with their friends.

I Must Be Crazy

Soooo.....that happened.

I had to run a 5K to qualify NOT to be in the back of the pack for the disney race.  Somehow I found myself in Pasadena, running straight uphill, only to turn around and run straight back down.

Here's race info if you're wondering what I was in for or if you have someone you hate and want to torture:
http://runtheverdugos.com/rivmtr.htm

Blech.  It's over.  I am NOT a distance running.  What the HECK am I DOING?!?!

With a Little Help From My Friends

We went beach camping at San Elijo in April and met up with a few of our friends from the San Diego area.  In the process, we built a HUGE castle in the sand.  Originally we could crawl through a tunnel under it but for safety reasons we closed it in (after we all crawled through it).  Here's our end result (above).  The little girls chalk colored a bunch of shells to decorate it.  I think that gave it just the perfect touch, don't you?