Saturday, April 29, 2006

San Dee-ahhhh-go

No longer can I say that I've never been to San Diego! This weekend I got the GRAND tour from SD residents, Cody and Ellen Bray. Despite Cody's persistent hiccups, we did some quintessential sightseeing, including a trip near Point Loma to the edge of the peninsula. After perambulating around the shore for a while, we headed to the San Diego Zoo. Now, those of you who know me KNOW I am no fan of the animal kingdom, but I will make an exception for Koala Bears and Pandas. Both were extrordinary. Ellen and I really enjoyed observing the human-like behavior of the gorillas. After leaving the zoo, we enjoyed a stroll through Balboa Park (beautiful) and a cruise around the island of Coronado.













Friday, April 28, 2006

NEW BLOG!

Alright. For you die-hard fans, I know this is an inconvenient detour from the norm, but thanks for sticking with me. I've had a LOT of problems on the other site, and the fact that half of my other blog showed up in chinese yesterday was the final straw. I will be posting to this site from now on.

Tonight I am leaving for San Diego to enjoy some time with Cody and Ellen Bray, and a visit to the San Diego Zoo. I'll be sure to report back....if the lions don't eat me.

Shrute Space

Today was a long day...a loooong drive home to Stockton. Surprisingly, I've been greeted with beautiful weather (that I'm told won't last long.) It was a relatively pleasant drive...I stopped for a Starbucks at the bottom of the grapevine and had the most WONDERFUL customer service. How encouraging...it DOES exist!

Today is also THURSDAY, which means THE OFFICE is on tonight! Woo hoo! I have been following along with the blog of one of the show's main characters, Dwight Shrute. I thought this one was particularly entertaining...so for your reading pleasure...

"Blogosphere" is another word that I just learned. It means "the
world of blogs and blog readership." Unquote.
Here are some of my other favorite words:
"Sniffles". That word sounds exactly like it means. Plus, I have them.
"Monkey". That’s a word that is funny pretty much anywhere and
anytime you use it. You can plug it in anywhere for hilarity. For
instance: "Hey Kevin, you accountant-monkey, why are you so gassy?"
"Ass" also works in the same way.
"Nebula". Not sure why, just like it.
"Corn". Because that’s what OUR people call it.
"Smith and Wesson". No need to explain the power behind those words.
"Mordor". It just sounds like an evil place, doesn’t it? I wouldn’t
want to go there unless I had to, in order to throw the ONE RING into
the volcano that’s there. Now, "Mines of Moria" doesn’t really work
that way. "Moria" sounds like a nice happy place filled with
shoppers. The Mines of Moria could be an outlet mall.
"Starbuck". No explanation necessary.
"Salesman of the Year". Those words send a tingle down my very long
spine.
Do you have any favorite words that I should add to my list?
That, as always, is all.
Dwight K. Schrute

Oh! The Things We Can Think!

Well, if you are all about efficiency and getting things done today, you should probably stop reading here...it's gonna digress real soon. I'm caught in the "in between hour"; right after you start to get drowsy, but before you lose consciousness for the evening. It's during this time that your brain goes WILD with thoughts. Like butterflies in an open field- impossible to harness, but lovely to sit back and enjoy. SO that's what I'm doing. I'm going to attempt to catch a few for you.
In random order (and I mean RANDOM order...)

1. I'm thinking about what an awesome experience I had at my first Life Group Bible Study through Revolution Church. I felt welcomed, excited, and quenched. Praise God.
2. I'm thinking about the scene in "The Office" where Michael and Dwight actually fight at Dwight's dojo.
3. I'm thinking about how the dinner I ate tonight really didn't fill me up.
4. I'm thinking about how severely I need to clean my room.
5. I'm thinking of the book Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller. I read it a couple years ago, but it seems to be screaming to me from the bookshelf. Perhaps I'll read it again.
6. I'm thinking about the odd dreams I had last night: one with a girl who had only one earring, and the other with Silke repeatedly uttering the phrase "Intensity of object ramification." Come on, Silke. That doesn't even make sense. Look up the word "ramification."
7. I'm thinking about how hard it would be to switch to blogger.com, because this site makes me crazy sometimes.
8. I'm thinking about Cotton Neal, and thanking God for bringing her safely through her tumor removal today.
9. I'm thinking about my impending trip to Africa, and about the curriculum unit I'm putting together for the first graders there. I'm thinking of changing the unit from my original "Read Around the World" theme, to a theme about "Creepy Crawlers."
10. I'm thinking about my trip to San Diego this weekend, and trying to decide whether or not I want to spend the day at the zoo.
11. My toe is itching.
12. I'm thinking how I'm glad that Kellie Pickler was excused from American Idol tonight.
13. Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.
14. I'm thinking about the smell of my parent's backgammon game. The leather and the felt...I love that smell.
15. I'm thinking that I've wasted enough of your time. I promise I'll write when I'm more coherent next time. Until then, leave a little love for me by clicking below!

Blake's Birthday Bowling Bash!

Alright- many of you have asked to see pictures from this outrageous event...so here you are. We celebrated Blake's 28th birthday in style at Lucky Strikes in Hollywood- the whole gang was in attendance, and I had a camera in hand. For the record, I held my own on the lanes, with the lowest score amongst females (yes...I even beat Carrie Turner, world renowned bowler!) Be proud, friends. I represented NorCal well. Here is documentation of the fun...

1) Perhaps you've seen this poster at the GAP...

2) We're real good at funny faces.

3) Carrie in Perfect form...

4) Selena and Mandi say "can't touch this..."

5) How many girls does it take to hold one bowling ball??

6) Syd and Mandi are luminous.

Easterrific!

Okay...Easter has got to be one of my favorite days of the year. Overwhelming joy. Celebration. Delight. Hallelujah.
This year was no exception. I celebrated the risen Lord at my home church in Stockton and....BOY, have they been working hard! What a production! We stepped off the church grounds for a day and made the basketball arena at University of the Pacific our "Sanctuary" for the morning. I'll tell you what- people that walk into that building are going to KNOW that we were there, because I think we left the walls dripping with praise. How proud I was of my church family, and to see all of our congregants together at once (all 2500+ of them) was a sight to behold. I wonder how Jesus feels when He hears the roar of His people singing all together...

Speaking of ROAR, my mom and I fit an extra Easter service into our schedule. We attended Calvary Temple in Modesto on Saturday night, where my good friends Toby and Kristen attend. WOW. We were quite entertained by the theme of the night, "The Last 24 of Christ," which was loosely based on the TV show "24." No Keifer Sutherland cameos, but the point was driven home- and not subtly. Christ's last 24 hours were hell on earth. Thank you, Jesus. You deserve this day, and all the rest....forever.


First Baptist Church takes over the AG Spanos Center at University of the Pacific.


My girls in the hizz-ouse- Carey and Becky in their Easter finery.


Wine Tasting in Lodi with Becky and Franse. Three WILD and CRAZY girls!!!

Monday, April 10, 2006

Heart of the Artist



I'm trying this new blog out...the other one is giving me lots of grief! One of these days, I'll be all caught up...but for now, pictures from two weeks ago will have to suffice. One of the retreaters was quite the photographer...he captured some amazing images, and was kind enough to share them with us! Check out the following photos from the Heart of the Artist retreat...