Thankful - Day 4

Going for walks -

I love going for walks. Over the summer my mom and I went walking almost every morning. It was so great spending some one on one time with my mom and talking while we walk. Yesterday I went for a great walk with Danika, my niece. Actually I walked and pushed her in a stroller. She chatted with me the entire way and cheered me up. And then there are the walks I go on with Stephanie. She and I try to go walking a couple times a week, depending on the weather. We go for great fast paced walks, you know, the kind where your legs are tingly when you are done. We have a great time talking and we also work at memorizing scripture together.

Thankful

It is the month of November and I've decided that everyday I'm going to post something that I am thankful for. I'm a little late getting started, but that is ok.

Nov 1. - My job - So many people are out of work right now, and I have been richly blessed with my job. I love the kids I work with and I've grown very close to some of the people I work with too.

Nov. 2 - Catalyst Group - I truly love being a part of my Bible study. It is so nice to meet during the week. We eat great food every week, have a great time of prayer and best of all study God's Word.

Nov. 3 - A good mechanic - I had to take my car in to be fixed yesterday and I very much appreciate the guys who work at the 76 station where I take my car. They do a great job and I know I can trust them.

There's my start. More to come!

Flowers

I love taking pictures of flowers. A few years ago I discovered the macro button on my camera and now I am always playing around with it. Sorry if you get sick of me posting pictures of flowers (all two of you who look at this blog). :o) But I still like taking pictures of flowers. 

We have such an amazing creator! 

Candles

 I love burning candles in my apartment. I love the smell of them and I love the look of them in various places in my small living space. Sometimes I'll just turn on my candle warmer, but more often I'll light a variety of candles while I'm at home. One time last year I had to drive home during my lunch break to make sure I hadn't left a candle burning. I don't light candles in the morning anymore. :o)

I've had a few candles from Bath and Body Works that I like, but they haven't burned that well. There was never enough wick for all of the wax. Just recently I've discovered my two favorite candles. I bought the Pumpkin Harvest Febreze candle at Target not too long ago and I've loved it! I burned it everyday since I bought it. It had a great fragrance and it burned totally down to the bottom. Now I can reuse the glass jar it was in. (I like to recycle those kinds of things.) The only problem with that candle is that it is seasonal. It isn't even November and the candle is off the shelves. Now they have the Christmas candles out. And I'm not ready for Christmas yet.

Now that I've used up that candle I looked in my cabinet for something else to burn while I'm at home. I pulled out this Yankee Candle that a family gave to me at the end of last school year. It isn't Field of Dreams like the picture, it is Over the Moon. I LOVE IT! It has a nice fresh smell, and because my place is so small the whole apartment smells great. I'm hoping it will last a while and that it burns down nicely.

California

You know you live in California when...
There is a little bit of frost on the playground slide and a kid yells "Look! Its snow!!"

Grandma's Cooking

First of all I'm pretty sure Julie must have been wearing shoes in this picture and I wasn't, because she is NOT taller than me. I'm pretty sure this picture was from 2002 or 2003. Not sure. I think that was the last time my Grandparents came out for a visit. 

Ok, now that I've gotten that straight. Over the summer my family took a trip to Wisconsin to visit my Grandparents (my mom's parents). As much as I love going to visit my friends I wish I could visit my Grandparents the most often. I love going to see them. On this last trip I decided that I wanted to copy down my Grandma's recipes. Grandma is a great cook. She is known for her cinnamon rolls, which she makes from scratch. So for a good portion of the week that we were there I sat with my dad's laptop and the recipe book which my Grandma has been adding to for years. It took a long time to type all of the recipes out, and I still have more to type. I ended up taking pictures of the pages so I could continue typing out the recipes. My goal is to have all of them typed and then make a cookbook. I've been looking around for ideas of how to make a cookbook that looks nice, but doesn't cost a ton of money. I thought about going the Shutterfly route, but I didn't really like the layouts that much and I knew that I was going to put a lot of recipes in it so it didn't really go along the amount of money I wanted to spend. I thought about just printing it at Kinkos and having them bind it. And I was probably going to do that until my friend Stephanie told me about Lulu. Lulu is an online publishing company, which Steph's husband Jeremy used for some Bible curriculum he wrote. I looked at the website and loved the idea instantly.
So the plan is to...

1. Finish typing all of Grandma's recipes (I think I am getting close to finishing). 
2. Try out a good chunk of the recipes and take pictures of them. 
3. Create a format for the pages of the cookbook.
4. Collect pictures from my relatives of them and Grandma.
5. Upload the entire project & publish it. 

Lulu is the kind of thing where I wouldn't have to try to sell huge quantities of the book, but they would make them as they are purchased. And honestly I'm not looking to sell that many, other than to my family members. I know that a lot of the recipes will taste amazing, but really for me it is special because it is the recipes that my Grandma cooks. 

I love my Grandma, and I am sad that I have lived so far away from her and my Grandpa for my entire life. Every visit is a wonderful time. 

Reading list

So after I made my list of things to do by the time I turn 30 I looked through the books on my shelves to see how many I had to read... And then I almost passed out. It is a very long list! Yikes! I am ashamed to say that I have a lot of books that I have started and never finished. I'm going to  work really hard at marking the books off my list in the next couple of years. I can do this!

I was going to share the list, but I'm embarrassed with how many books I have to read. So I'm skipping out on showing the list until I have a few more checked off. :o/ Yes, I'm a chicken.

30 by 30

I've been feeling inspired by seeing my friend's lists of thing they want to do by a certain time. In 2 1/2 years I will be 30 so I'd say that is a good amount of time to get through a list of things I want to get done.

Italicized items are ones I am working on right now.

So here is my list in no particular order.

1. Read through the entire Bible
2. Donate my hair to Locks of Love (I'm growing it out at the moment)
3. Publish a cookbook of my Grandma's recipes
4. Read through the books on my bookshelf that I have not read
5. Draw one sketch each day for 30 days in a row
6. Make a quilt for my bed
7. Walk in a half-marathon
8. Take a cooking class
9. Loose 20 pounds and keep if off for 6 months
10. Make a Christmas quilt (I started cutting out the pieces a while ago and haven't picked it up in a while) 
11. Visit Yosemite
12. Eat at the Melting Pot
13. Cook through an entire cookbook
14. Visit another country (other than the ones I've been to)
15. Sew something I can wear
16. Publish a children's book
17. Stick to my budget for two months in a row (I hope after 2 months it will be easy to stick with it for a long time)
18. Go on a hot air balloon ride
19. Visit the Grand Canyon
20. Write my Grandma 2 letters per month
21. Clean out my Gmail inbox to zero
22. Have a picture taken of me that I really like
23. Visit a winery in Sonoma County
24. Sing with someone famous (not sure if that is realistic or not)
25. Go to the middle of nowhere at look at the stars
26. Get a massage (I have the gift card, just need to make the appointment) 
27. Learn to play the piano so I can sing while I play
28. Make a pie from scratch
29. Take a flower arranging class
30. Host a tea party at my apartment. 

I'll be posting things as I cross them off of my list. 

Some aren't extremely realistic, but they are fun anyway. 

So far this fall!

1st day of school!

Dani's 1st day of school!

Happy Birthday Allie!

Silly!

Driven to walk by faith - Teachers racing!

Soccer Under the Lights! Ethan all bundled up!

Sonoma County Fair

Top 5 Reasons why I love going to the fair with my family:

5. The Flower Show - I don't know how other fairs are in different areas, but the Sonoma County Fair has an amazing flower show. There is an entire pavilion dedicated to it. Landscaping groups take up sections of it and fill the entire area with plants of all colors and sizes. Every year there is a theme. This year the theme was wine. Which makes sense for Sonoma County. Walking into this area was like walking into

Fountain made of wine bottles! Very cool idea!

4. Free Clover Ice Cream - Every day during the fair there is a booth that passes out free ice cream cones. The ice cream tastes great and best part of all...it is free. :o) It is nice to not have to spend a ton of money at the fair.

3. Kids Rides - Normally I don't go on rides at the fair, but my niece Danika is at the age where she loves going on rides. We tried to do other things, but all she talked about was the Carousel. It was fun going on rides with her. Most of the time she had a very serious face, but we all knew she had a great time.

She looks terrified, but this ride was all she talked about for the first 20 minutes at the fair. 

2. The Food - Raise your hand if you like fair food! (mine hand is high in the sky!) Food at the fair is so much fun. I love trying new things. Now I'm not talking about a greasy hot dog. My usual at the fair is pesto pasta from The Pasta King. I know exactly where to find them at the fair. This year I had pork sliders from Johnny Garlic's. Wow they were amazing! Another favorite is the kettle corn.

1. Photo-booth Pictures - This is my favorite thing to do at the fair! It is the main reason I go. People laugh at me and tell me to just go to the mall, but it isn't the same. I LOVE the tradition Julie and I made the first time we took Dani to the fair. It is fun to see how she has grown in one year. She still doesn't quite get the idea, but we are getting there. I played around a little on Picnik with the picture.

And there you have it!

< 3

Ok so what do you think of my chip?! I pulled out out of the bag and almost ate it. :o) I saved it to show to my 3rd grade students.
They liked it.
School has been going well. I have one student who is being a little trouble maker and I'm having to get him in trouble and then I feel bad. I am pretty good about following through with my discipline at school, but there are times when I second guess myself.
I really love my students. :o)

Funny thing happened today.
I'm teaching the jr. high computer class...not really teaching it. Just keeping the kids in line as they work on a typing program. It just so happens that I am pretty good at recognizing their voices and I totally tell them to be quiet, by name, when I'm not even looking at them. God is good. One boy just slammed his hands on the keyboard today and I told him to be quiet. He was shocked that I knew it was him. It made me feel like a great teacher! Haha.

2010-2011 School Year

Well, the first week of the 2010-2011 school year is almost over. The week has flown by. My schedule has changed yet again. At the rate I'm going I don't think I'll have two school years that look the same. Ever. But I really do like what I do. This year is different in that I have the opportunity to teach more at the elementary level. Due to financial difficulties the Christian school I am teaching at had to combine the 2nd and 3rd grade classes. The administration had to let go of the 3rd grade teacher and the placed me as the combined class' aid. I am working with Jen Bauer, who is an amazing teacher. This week has been a lot of fun. Jen and I are a lot alike and we love to laugh when we are working together.

The bigger challenge I have for the year is the work I am doing in the jr. high. Oh boy. I am continuing teaching jr high art the same as last year. It is nice to have the class again because I can learn from my mistakes. :o) I am also teaching jr. high computers and spanish. Si, hablo espanol. Un poquito. Praise the Lord! Both of those classes are computer programs, so that I just have to make sure the students are actually working. We'll see how that goes. :o)

I'm really excited to see what God has planned for this school year. I know that He is going to stretch me this year and teach me a lot.

Say Cheese!

I've created a monster! 

Julie is still a little upset with me for teaching Danika how to use her camera. It is so cute though! Although some of the pictures she has taken of me are not too flattering. :o/ 

Look at how she has her tongue!! So adorable. I love this little girl!

Avid Reader... not too sure

In my life I've kind of had a love/hate relationship with reading. I did not enjoy reading in elementary school until I started reading Christian romance novels. It all started with Lori Wick, an author whom I know personally and still love reading her books. I would devour her books when I started reading them, but if a book was required for school I had the hardest time getting through them. There have been a handful of required reading books that I have enjoyed (A Tale of Two Cities and The Silver Chalice to name a couple). That was in high school and the same thing happened in college until I took a Children's Literature class at TMC. Oh My! I loved that class! That class made me love reading even more than before. Children's literature is so much fun (and easy) to read. I think if I weren't a teacher I would open my own children's book store just like on You've Got Mail.
The problem I have with reading is that I start a book and then don't have time to read and never finish it! Ahh!! It drives me nuts. I have a huge stack of books that I need to finish. At at the rate I am going I won't have time to finish those books until I retire (who knows when that will be). I think I need to challenge myself in reading books. I've gotten into the habit of watching something on my computer before I go to bed. I love doing that because it helps me to relax before I sleep. My new plan is to only do that every other night. On the off nights I want to do more reading. That way my stack of books will start to decrease. Such a good goal. I hope I can keep it up.
So the current book I am reading is Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper. I read it once in college, but it was a required read so you know what that means... I don't remember one bit of it. My Bible study is reading through it right now. So far we are on chapter 6 and I think I've read half of each chapter. Yikes! I am terrible! This week I'm going to do better!

My Crazy Life

I am so tempted to change the title of this blog to "My Crazy Life." It truly is a crazy life! I could call it "My Crazy Life In Christ Alone." It really is through Christ alone that I am able to survive my crazy life. In my 3rd grade art class we painted today (always an interesting experience). One of the moms had to drop something off for me and I said to her "Welcome to my crazy life!" She laughed at me and agreed that I was pretty brave in the art project we were doing. So at the moment I am in a classroom, which smells like tempera paint (not the most pleasant smell) and tables that are covered with artwork, dreading the idea of cleaning up. I'll be honest though...I never want to clean my classroom. Wouldn't it be great to wiggle your nose have have everything done for you! But then I wouldn't be able to rely on the Lord, so I guess I'm in good shape. 

I feel like I am rambling. :o) Hope you (whoever reads this anymore) are having a wonderful week!

Person in process

"I am a person in process. God is chipping away at the peeling paint in my life, driving nails in where the boards are breaking away, and working hard to make my house what it should be. He is painting deep brushstrokes in my life, but He has a long way to go. "

Carole Mayhall, author of Words That Hurt Words That Heal

I'm reading through this book with some college girls from my church and I have felt convicted after reading each and every chapter. I get a little frustrated though when I forget what I have learned in a couple of days. Yesterday I read the next chapter and came across this quote at the end. It made me feel a little relieved. Don't get me wrong, I still need to work on remembering the things I have learned and applying them to my life, but there are times when God uses those things without me even knowing. I'm so glad that He is at work! And I don't have to grow by my own strength.

It kinda reminds me of a song...

He's still working on me to make me what I ought to be.
It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars,
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars.
How loving and patient He must be, He's still working on me.

Funny stories

It is so entertaining to work with kids. Sometimes they are just so funny!

This week I subbed in the PreK class on Wednesday. It was a fun day, and the kids were great. In the afternoon I was talking with one of the girls in the class.

This is how it went:

Me: "That is a pretty bracelet. Where did you get it?"

Student: "Um (with a puzzled look), where do you go? VBS? Or UPS?"

It was so hard to control the laughter that was bubbling inside me.

Me: "VBS. UPS is the company that delivers things."

Student: "Oh, yeah."

It was so cute!!!

Conversations with a 2 year old

I'm hanging out with a certain adorable 2 yr. old tonight.

One who happens to be my niece.

She is currently holding my chin so that I will look at her, talking gibberish and finishing with "Ok?"

Hilarious!

I can't answer yes because I have no idea what she is saying. :o)

Just a few minutes ago she was in the other room and I could hear her tearing apart some paper bowls that she had been playing with. I called to her and asked her what she was doing. She ran into the room and asked me to come with her.

"What? Do you want to show me the mess you made?"

Her response was, "Yippidee!" (translation - yes)

We went over there and then she expected me to clean it up! I don't think so kiddo!

I was nice and helped her clean it up.

What can I say, I'm a softy.

What an entertaining evening! I love this kid!

Recently

It has been a while since my last post.

So I thought I would tell you what I have been up to.

Family

Friends

Hawai'i

(Yes I did just write the word Hawai'i! I took a week off of work and went to the beautiful island of Kauai with one of my best friends, her parents and her roommate.)

Orchid

At the end of the 08-09 school year a family gave me an orchid. I loved it, the flowers were so beautiful! But deep down inside I feared that I would kill it. I had always hear about how orchids were so high maintenance.

When I moved out in August I was really excited because my place gets great light. The flowers eventually fell off, which they are supposed to do. I kept watering it and now...there are new buds on it!!! I'm so excited!! I didn't kill it!!!

Im excited to post pictures when it blooms.

The flowers are a speckled purple/magenta and white.

New Blog

A few weeks ago I started a new blog. (No, I'm not getting rid of this blog)

In January I decided to start cooking through a Rachael Ray cookbook and blogging about it. Yes, I am oh so original. But I'm really having fun doing it.

Once a week I'm cooking from my Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals 2 cookbook. So far I've only been doing this for two weeks. I really want to become a better cook and I thought this would be a good way to get some practice.

Here is the site, if you want to take a look at it.

www.myjourneythroughcooking.blogspot.com

(Thanks for the name idea Mary!)

Little Lamb

This is a pattern I got off of youcanmakethis.com.

There are so many great ideas on this site. It is so fun!

I made this lamb for my dear friend Michelle's sweet little Avery.

I love the fun shape of it.

It is especially fun because I can choose the fabric to go on it.

Apparently I have issues rotating pictures. I tried twice. Oh well. You get the idea.

Selah's quilt

(It is sideways, but I think you get the idea)

This is the quilt I made for Selah O'Brien.

She is such a sweet little baby girl. It was a quick quilt, but I think it turned out pretty well. One of my favorite things about making quilts is picking out the fabric. I could go to Joann's everyday. :o) If I had the money and the time.

Lady in Waiting - chapter 1

Colossians 2:9-10

For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.

I’ve just started re-reading the book Lady in Waiting by Debby Joes and Jackie Kendall, well I guess technically I never finished it. So really I’m starting over. The first attempt to read the book I didn’t make it through, and I think that part of the reason was because I wasn’t ready for it. I’m so glad that I started from the beginning again because God knew what I needed to hear and when I needed to hear it.

Lately it seems that I have been getting into these awful moods. Sometimes it is because of someone else and many times it is because of myself. I have this terrible tendency to beat myself up over something that really should be forgotten quickly. Once I start beating myself up about it everything tends to go down hill. You know what I mean, I get stuck in hole and can’t, or won’t in many cases, dig myself out of it. I have a wonderful family and great friends who attempt to help me out of the “funk” I get in (as I like to call it), but more often than not I stay in it and ignore their attempts to help me.

The other week I was in one of those “funks,” and at this point I have no idea what happened to get me there. I was feeling sorry for myself in my “miserable” single state. (that tends to be the main thing that bothers me lately – but when I really think about it I am not that miserable….that is for another time) When I got home I opened up Lady in Waiting and was shocked at how much the chapter applied to how I was feeling right at that moment. (Isn’t God Awesome!?!) Here is one thing that stood out to me.

“Incompleteness is not the result of being single, but of not being full of Jesus”

“Only the single woman who understands this means of being complete in Jesus is mature enough to be a helpmeet (compliment).”

As I was reading this I knew that I am definitely not there yet, but it was so encouraging to me. I spend so much time thinking about wanting to be in a relationship that I push aside my Savior. Our culture has this view that every young woman needs to get married. This is engrained into our brains at a very young age through fairy tales and whatnot. God has given me this wonderful opportunity to right now to spend time with Him. I should be taking advantage of that time right now. Who knows what I have been waiting for.

I fell in love with Colossians 2:9-10 while reading this section of Lady in Waiting. My fullness or completeness is in Christ and nothing else. After reading those verses I wrote them down on a card and carried them around with me a for a few days. When I would start wishing or dreaming of being in a relationship I would pull our the card and meditate on those words. It totally helped! I even went on a little rampage, in a kind way, at one of my friends when she mentioned something about me needing a man. :o) I held up my verse card and said “Oh no! Not right now! My fullness is in Christ!”

Now I have to be honest with you, today was one of those not so good days. There were a few moments when some friends of mine cheered me up, but not long later I curled back up onto that awful mood. A friend has challenged me to spend more time in the Word and bring my focus back on Christ and away from myself. Tomorrow my verse cards will go everywhere with me in hopes that I will remember the promises I have from my loving Savior.

Thank You, Jesus for making me complete/ full in You!

I'm a proud big sister!

Tonight I went to a wonderful, yet odd event. Wonderful because it was honoring my sister and odd because of the people who shared. Julie had her first graduation (there is another one in Jan) from Empire College. She finished her certificate in Legal Office Administration. I am SO proud of her. She did so well that she received an outstanding student award at the graduation. That was awesome, but the ceremony in general was extremely long and the speeches were kind of strange. Someone near us asked if the president had had a few glasses of wine with his dinner because he was having trouble reading his cards. At one point Danika (who spent the majority of the time running around the lobby) just started saying "bye, bye" repeatedly in the middle of a speech. I think that speech was by the mayor of Santa Rosa. :o) It was funny. The guy behind us looked at her and said, "yeah I want to go home too." (!!) Hilarious!!

Anyway, here are some pictures from the graduation. We are all so proud of Julie and all of her accomplishments!

Yay Julie!!!

Before Danika got bored.

When she wasn't running around in the lobby she was keeping busy :o)

Proud Family!

Love you Jules!

Art blog

As I've said in previous posts I'm getting into looking at blogs about all sorts of things. I found this cool elementary art blog. They have some great ideas. Check it out!

Art Lessons for Kids

Tasty

Well as Rachel Ray would say...

Yum-o!

I just cooked lunch for my family and it turned out wonderfully. I was trying something new and cooking with wine. You have to try this recipe. It was easy, easy, easy. The only thing I'm facing now is finding other recipes to use the wine in. I have a lot left over and I'm not a fan of the taste when just drinking it. Cooked it is wonderful though.

I don't have a picture of the meal, because my family devoured it. But you can look at it at the website where I found it. Here it is!

Chicken Marsala

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour for coating
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded 1/4 inch thick
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup Marsala wine
• 1/4 cup cooking sherry

Directions:

1. In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the flour, salt, pepper and oregano. Coat chicken pieces in flour mixture.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter in oil over medium heat. Place chicken in the pan, and lightly brown. Turn over chicken pieces, and add mushrooms. Pour in wine and sherry. Cover skillet; simmer chicken 10 minutes, turning once, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

I'm kinda funny because I go through fazes of cooking and baking. I'll cook and love it and then get lazy and not cook. I'm sure it drives my mother nuts. I've been thinking a lot more about cooking though since I am moving out in a week. I want to eat healthy and cook meals for myself, but I think cooking for one person can be a challenge. I'm keeping my eyes opened for good recipes and cook books that will work for me. This recipe might not be the best for just one person, but I'll cook it for my family for sure.

Food!!

Lately I've enjoyed looking at craft and food blogs. This is one that Kate Brown showed me. I love it! Mostly because it shows pictures. I need to see pictures of food in order to be interested in it. :o) www.tastespotting.com directs you to personal blogs with recipes. There are a few ads that you might have to say "no thanks" to, but the ideas on the site are worth it!

Here is one of the great ideas I found on the web site.

This might look like dirt, but it is actually a great idea!

Here is the link for this great idea. It is for coffee. I am planning on trying this. It is especially a good idea for someone who does not have a coffee maker. Since I am planning on moving out soon and my new place doesn't really have room for a coffee maker I am going to give this a try.

Pictures soon to come of my little apartment/granny unit. I move in next month!!

Quilting

I am trying something new. I have decided to make baby quilts for my friends. It started out when I made one for Danika when she was born. I think it is such a special thing. So when I found out my friend Kelley was going to have a baby this summer (any day now) I got busy working on a quilt for her new little girl. It is definitely challenging and I am no where near an expert, but I find it enjoyable. I did have a little trouble with one of the fabrics I chose, but I got over it eventually. :o)

This is the quilt I made for Kelley's baby. Kelley helped me pick out the fabric which made it even more special. She couldn't wait to see what it turned out like. She studied interior design so has a good eye for colors and patterns. And the colors she picked out go with her baby's room. I am so excited for her sweet little girl to be wrapped up in this blanket.

Spring Break

There are definite pros and cons for working in education. Obviously, teachers do not get paid as much as they deserve. The hours can be brutal. Teachers come in to work at least a half an hour before school starts and often do not leave until after 4pm. And I'm sure there are more cons to teaching, but this post is not meant to be a time of complaining about my job.

I could think of more pros to teaching. I know I am a first year teacher, but I just love my job so much. It is so rewarding being a teacher. I love seeing the looks on kids faces when they finally grasp a new concept. I love reading from a children's novel in funny voices completely shocking the kids and sending them into a fit of giggles. I love the hugs, the drawings, and the starbucks cards around the holidays. :o)

I am so thankful that I love my job. God has blessed me so much. Another perk of teaching is the vacation time. Not many people get the summer, 2-3 weeks at Christmas and a week off in the spring. What a huge blessing. I guess that helps make up for the long hours.

I have to say that I was in desperate need of the Easter Break we just had. The week off was wonderful! I was feeling a little burnt out. It is interesting to see how the Lord knows when I need a little break. He provided that week off just when I needed it.

About a month ago my mom got a call from my Grandma that my Grandpa was in the hospital with congestive heart failure. It was quite a big scare for all of us. Grandpa is getting old and he hasn't had the best health in the past several years. Right away we were trying to figure out when the family, or at least my mom, could fly out to Wisconsin to be near my Grandparents. We couldn't go right away, but Easter break was just around the corner and we thought it was the best time.

Thankfully our entire family was able to go. We had a great time with my grandparents. Of course, to them Danika was the best part of our visit. They thought she was just wonderful. And who can argue. :o) The last time they had seen her she wasn't even crawling and now she is practically running. We were able to help them around the house, visit with my mom's cousins and aunts, and just relax.

Because my grandparents live so far away we don't get to see them very often. So it was really nice to just be around. Julie had fun learning some new recipes from my Grandma (which were delicious).

Mom, Julie, and I went with my Grandma to Bingo at the little senior center in the area. The people were so excited that we came. It was sweet. My grandpa gave each of us a dollar in nickels. They didn't last too long. We played several games and I lost every one. I had to get a loan from my Grandma who won at least 4 games. :o) But win or lose it was a fun time. I'm so thankful for the time we were able to spend there.

Today was the first day back at school. I was so excited to be back. I missed the Kindergarteners. Even the challenging ones. :o) I feel very revived and ready to keep going. So I guess I should be getting to work on my lesson plans instead of spending time writing this post.

Thank You, Father, for the time you gave me to relax.

I praise you for taking care of my family as we traveled

and my Grandparents as they are far away.

Thank You for the job you have given to me

and the love I have for this job.

Help me to glorify You in all I do at work.

Give my wisdom and patience as I work with

the kids for the next 6 weeks. Thank You for being

such a loving and gracious God.

Amen.

Praise Him!

"Does not all nature around me praise God? If I were silent, I should be an exception to the universe. Does not the thunder praise Him as it rolls like drums in the march of the God of armies? Do not the mountains praise Him when the woods upon their summits wave in adoration? Does not the lightning write His name in letters of fire? Has not the whole earth a voice? And shall I, can I, silent be?"
- C.H. Spurgeon

A Personal Guide

Well, I have no idea if anyone even reads my blog anymore, but I'm going to keep writing on it. This is one of the few places I feel free to share my thoughts. So here it goes. :o)

These are the verses I read this morning in my devotional/journal.
But I'll take the hand of those who don't know the way,
who can't see where they're going.
I'll be a personal guide to them,
directing them through unknown country.
I'll be right there to show them what roads to take,
make sure they don't fall into the ditch.
These are the things I'll be doing for them—
sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute."
Isaiah 42:16 (from The Message)

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying,
"This is the way; walk in it."
Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)

We can make our plans,
but the Lord determines our steps.
Proverbs 16:9 (NLT)

(These verses apply to my life so much right now. I love it when the Lord gives you exactly what you need to hear in your quiet time.)

I'm at this age where things seem very uncertain. (I'm sure that age is a very large span or ages, but it seems to have hit me pretty hard this year) It began with the decision to stay in SoCal or return to NorCal. Again I'm wonder where God is leading me. Am I supposed to stay here? Or go somewhere else? Do I stick with the job I love or try to find something that pays better? It stresses me out. But when I remember that God is leading me and guiding me I breathe a sigh of relief. God is in control!! He has plans for me and He will lead me in the direction of those plans. He is my guide.

I'm reminded of Psalm 139. I can not hide from God. But not only that, His hand will hold me steady. He will steady me as I walk along the path He has for me. There is always the great illustration from the poem "Footprints." When things get hard God does not leave us He carries us through it.

What would I do without my personal guide? No matter what gets thrown my way my Heavenly Father is with me guiding me through it.

The Road Ahead

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.... But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me. And You will never leave me to face my perils alone."
I found this quote by Thomas Merton in a journal I have been using lately. It says pretty clearly how I have been feeling lately. I want so badly to know what is going to happen next in my life. But that is something that God is in control of and He has decided not to fill me in ahead of time. (Sometimes that just drives me nuts!) But it is so great to remember that He is in control and that He won't leave me, even if I am in the shadow of death.
I am so thankful for my wonderful Savior!!

Praying for Troy

Hello friends,
I just wanted to write a quick note asking you to pray for my cousin Troy. I just found out that he is battling depression pretty harshly. My sister has been receiving emails from my aunt and she seems pretty worried about him. He has been attempting to hurt himself and refuses to see a counselor or any sorts saying they don't know anything. Please be praying for him. It is especially hard for my aunt. I'm sure as a parent there is the thought of "what did I do wrong". Pray that she will find strength and hope in the Lord. My sister is trying to give her a lot of encouragement seeing that she went through a lot of the same situations that Troy is going through now.
Thank you for your prayers.

Jamie

Friday Fave Five

I skipped a week, but I'm going to try to keep this up.

1. Watching tv with a puppy sleeping on my lap. I've been house sitting and thier dachsund puppy likes to take naps on your lap while you watch tv. So relaxing.
2. "When the Little Baby Boy was Born" - I sang a solo with my church choir on Sunday. It was such a fun solo! I love singing!
3. Queen Jamie (has a nice ring to it) - Today I was the Queen at the Pre-K and Kindergarten wedding for Q and U. It was quite the event. We even had a pastor say the opening prayer.
4. Danika's smile. It is so fun getting home in the afternoon. She always has a big smile on her face when I walk through the door. I love that little girl!
5. Psalm 103:11-12 - "As high as the heaven is above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness to those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." I am so thankful that the Lord loves me so much greater than I can even imagine. I totally don't deserve it.