So...yeah

So much going on and so much to talk about! But some things will have to wait just a little longer for the blog...

I stillllll haven't finished documenting our Italy trip. I'm sure my sister thinks I forgot. I didn't. 

J got a new job! Da, da DA! He is now my rockstar Network Analyst at San Diego State University. So we are becoming Aztec fans by default. He is so happy to work for great people and a larger university and I am so happy he is happy!

J and I just got back (last week) from a little trip to Seattle, Portland and Roseburg, Oregon to see our besties. We always love Oregon, the Ritters are our faves, and Pike Place Market is sure a fun place to explore.

Every time we visit Oregon, we say we want to move there tomorrow. It's so stinking beautiful up there! But this time, along with the 'it's so amazing here' thoughts, we also felt a new sense of peace and contentment with our lives in San Diego, and are incredibly thankful for where we are at. We don't have plans to move to Oregon for quite awhile, if ever. We've decided will love our home city we are blessed to live in, give thanks that our family is so close (S and V, move here darn it), and make Oregon the family vacation spot.

Fall is here, which might be my favorite season. Well, I love winter, and Spring is pretty nice. Just not summer in El Cajon. Ugh. the heat is not my friend. But there's something about the anticipation of the upcoming holidays and change of seasons (even though it's still 86 degrees outside here) that makes my heart happy. I've failed at bringing out my fall decor this year, which I'm bummed about. But we did get two little pumpkins and I have a harvest sign that are happily sitting on our mantle and my desk. I also have yet to make anything pumpkin related, while last year I had pumpkin bread and cupcakes and muffins and cookies and pancakes going by now. Some years it just doesn't work out. But that's ok with me.

We did make a trip to Target and visited the fall Halloween section, which is not our favorite section by any means. (seriously, when did October turn into skulls and goblins month? what happened to harvest time and preparing for a heart of thankfulness?) But we did get quite a kick out of the gigantic skull heads larger than J. It was his idea to document it. 

I love my husband.

I'm sick as a dog (where in the world did that phrase come from?? It doesn't even make sense, my dogs aren't sick...) with most symptoms you can imagine, including crazy allergies, which is making looking at this computer screen a tad tricky. When I feel better, I'll upload my pics from our trip and also the rest of Italy (it was only 6 months ago...). 

Life feels crazy...doesn't it always?...but good. I'm feeling extra thankful this morning and that's a good thing. 

Lord, make my heart thankful every morning.

The Journey of 1000 Gifts

I'm sitting on the grass in Coronado overlooking the city I live in. {I really need to do this more often.} 

In this moment, I choose to be thankful.

- Thankful for the two puppies happily lying on the grass in front of me.

- Thankful for the cool green blanket of grass I'm sitting on.

- Thankful for the crisp blue water, calm in front of me.

- Thankful for cultural music playing in the distance.

- Thankful for the people working hard in the buildings high in front of me.

- Thankful for a couple hours on a Thursday afternoon to sit and be.

- Thankful for black and white frappuccinos and hot dogs with pineapple relish.

- Thankful for the vastness of the ocean to remind me how small I am and how big God is.

- Thankful for what God showed Ann Voskamp and her vulnerability to share with the rest of us through her book, One Thousand Gifts.

- Thankful for the scattered clouds in the sky and the tweets of the birds soaring high through them.

- Thankful for a thankful heart.

- Thankful for the freedom to trust Jesus.

- Thankful for grace when I forget.

- Thankful God's vision is far more perfect than mine.

- Thankful my Savior is not trapped by time. And thankful He knew I needed to be.

In One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp shares about her journey to a heart of gratitude through the initial simple concept of keeping a list of 1000 gifts, great and small, good and bad. In doing this, she learns the concept of thankfulness, among other things. I highly recommend this book. I've started my own list of 1000 gifts. I'm on #70. I keep waiting for the moment my mind will change and I will suddenly be thankful for everything and trust The Lord in each moment.

Then I remember I'm human and my tendency is to doubt and to stress and to be less than thankful for circumstances. 

But moment by moment, I will choose thanks. I will choose gratitude. I will choose to remember the gift of salvation my God has given me so completely.

I don't understand why bad things happen. I make mistakes. I sin and I doubt and I am anything but perfect. And I have a less-than-thankful heart too often. 

But in this moment, I will choose gratitude. I will choose to be thankful. I will choose to trust The Lord and I will choose to remember His gift. 

{ps: I'm blogging from my phone for the first time, using an app called BlogGo, so I have no idea how this will look on a computer or how long this will take to publish!
update: It published kinda weird looking, and it published twice, and it needed wireless to publish, which I didn't have... all that to say, I'm trying to make it look a little better. I'll have to practice with the app more before giving it a good or bad review.}

3-Day for the Cure: Day One

For months we prepared. 

Mentally. Physically. Monetarily. Emotionally. Spiritually. Relationally.

And finally, the day was here. 

Friday, November 18, 2011.

How best to explain the 3-day?

In pictures... 

with a few words scattered throughout [because, really, you have to hear a few stories!]

[disclaimer: most of these pictures were taken while we were actively walking... 

therefore, these are not my best work. 

and yet, i feel they still capture the essence of the experience :)]

Checking in and dropping off our bags at 5:30am Friday. Thank you Steve for taking us so early in the morning!! They were so organized and we had a letter-number combo on our little tags that told us where to put our luggage and where our tent would be later that day.

 We're here!

 Our motto.

 My buddy and me at the opening ceremony. We're really gonna do this!!

 Part of the opening ceremony... the survivor circle.

The flag in the middle has the names of those who have passed that are close to the 2011 walkers.

Both Mom and I wrote names on there.

 And we're off.... AHHHHHH!!!!

 3 miles in... pit stop one in Del Mar. That wasn't so bad!

 Around mile 5... our first official police friend. The police ROCKED.

 Leaving pit stop 2 and headed up Torrey Pines... about mile 6.

 Mom's best friend Saranne tracked us down around mile 10 and was our first personal cheerleader! 

It was so encouraging to see a familiar face and meant so much to have her there.

 Mile 12... lunch at La Jolla Shores! Lunch was fun. :)

Although, Mom and I had this thing where we would get to the stops and there would be tons of people... and by the time we were ready to go everyone had already left. This was the case at lunch. The rest of day one was a bit of playing catch-the-group and so 

 La Jolla in the afternoon. God continually reminded me of His faithfulness.

 From La Jolla to Bird Rock to Pacific Beach...

Just a few of the vehicles from the incredible team of police, fire rescue, bikers, and others who volunteered their time throughout the entire walk. From here, it was just a walking path to camp.

 Heading all the way down Mission Bay to Crown Point - the last miles of the day.

What a truly beautiful city to walk through.

[notice how few walkers there are compared to earlier? we sorta ended up close to the end... unintentionally...]

 We made it to camp! 

Day one [officially 21.5 miles]: complete!

 We got to camp right as the route was about to close (5:15pm), so it was dark. 

[most others had been at camp for a couple hours and were all settled in already]

We still had to get our tent, find our tent site, set up our tent, shower, eat dinner, change/unpack and get set up, and get to the evening entertainment... in one hour.

Therefore we didn't take many pictures.

However, praise God for the YMCA kids who volunteered to set up our tent for us!!!

 Finally showered, fed, and a bit more settled for the evening.

My twin/best pal/mom and me in our matching jammies.

[btw... we totally didn't need the scarves... but we brought them, so we wanted to wear them]

After the mishap of the air mattress [aka Jordanna pumped it up, pump died, Jordanna plugged air plug while we charged pump, came back to find the plug had come off and Jordanna had deflated the whole thing by laying across it before realizing such. battery lasted 5 min more... we needed 25 minutes. therefore: night one -- deflated air mattress]

[to take it further... this is happening at about 9-9:30pm... everyone around us is sound asleep. We quickly learned we could be playing catch up for a bit ... so is life for us! this is not complaining though... just to try to give you a glimpse of the day in our eyes. We had a great day!]

And then it was off to sleep for a sound solid 8 hours...

did I say that?

I meant,

an hour on the rough ground... tossing... turning... an hour here... what time is it, not time yet...

Nevertheless, it was a night to remember. In the best way possible. :-)

Only 40 miles to go...

A thankful heart: New Discoveries

This morning, Mom and I mapped our own 15 {turned 16} mile walk

through Old Town, Mission Hills, Hillcrest, Balboa Park, and Banker's Hill

{by the way, mapping a 15 mile walk is not as easy as it sounds}.

I am loving our weekend walks

because they are filled with new discoveries.

Discovering more about each other.

Discovering new eateries, coffee houses, and neighborhoods.

Discovering new friends and stories.

Discovering how our bodies react to walking and carrying so much.

Just today, I discovered:

Mission Hills is a darn cute little neighborhood,

Hillcrest and 1st through 6th avenues are actually delightful to walk through,

there is a coffee bean on washington {hello favorite!},

a new {becoming not-so-new} friend who joined us for the second half of the walk

 {mom and me with our new friend, Leti at espresso mio}

there is a real town called Rio in Brazil... not just in the movie,

mom is really good at braiding her hair without a mirror,

the living room cafe has yummy breakfast burritos {#whoknew?},

I don't get such bad blisters when I walk a little slower and use second skin,

I will walk through any neighborhood I'm considering moving to in the future,

espresso mio is owned by one of the sweetest marathon-running ladies,

places that seem so far away are actually only a couple miles,

my cell phone battery only lasts 6 hours when i use the gps mileage tracker,

I love walking and talking with mom,

every home has special character

{the house mom fell in love with},

it's sometimes fun to wander off the beaten path for a picture or two,

and God is  e v e r y w h e r e .

I'm so thankful for new discoveries.


{ps: 13 DAYS until the big 3-day!!!}

Blackout!

The day started well.

I was sick on Thursday, so I stayed home from work.

I rested, cleaned a bit and did a little laundry.

Went to the bank and the gas station.

Met up with Aristoula for coffee and a trip to Target for the essentials.

{i love that girl}.

On our way home, all the traffic lights were out.

When we got back to my house, the garage door wouldn't open.

"That's wierd!" we said.

We went inside my house to find it dark, clocks black, fans and A/C off.

No power.

We started getting text messages from our moms, sisters and husbands.

Turned out, no one had power.

Her poor hubby navigated the getting-busier-by-the-minute streets to pick her up,

and mine met me at home. {thank goodness he works close!}

My mom stopped by to check on us.

We used our cell phones to message J's parents telling them all was well.

We listened to the radio a bit with the last battery of the iPad...

just in time to hear SDG&E say "if you have a family emergency plan, activate it now."

And then, we began collecting all our candles, matches, flashlights, and batteries 

in anticipation of the impending darkness.

And we turned off our phones.

Then we sat.

No phones. No internet. No clock. No light. No tv. No music.

And I realized how dependent we have become on electricity.

We wondered what people used to do without power.

Playing a game and reading a book became increasingly difficult as it rapidly darkened.

So, we opened up our doors and windows to let the cooler air in.

J lit the candles throughout our home.

{J said: thank goodness for a wife who looooooves candles!!! we had like 100}.

We walked the dogs and chatted with neighbors,

who also were opening up their homes and venturing outside.

We saw millions of stars.

And I truly appreciated the moonlight.

It was bright outside. Brighter than inside.

Kids played hide and seek in the moonlight.

We ate like it was our last supper... cereal, cookies and milk, chips... 

{maybe I shouldn't share all the not-so-yet-so-good things we ate...}

We laughed together.

J and I hung out on our balcony.

Emma and Baker stayed close.

Luigi went to sleep in the natural darkness.

We chatted about life together across a darkened room lit only by a few candles.

We fell asleep to silence.

[our living room, after dark]

I was a little bummed when the lights and fan and computers all came on at 2:30am.

And yet, thankful.

So, what did I learn?

Be flexible.
A plan only goes so far.
Always have lots of candles (and matches) and flashlights (and batteries). 

Don't let the gas tank get too low (you never know when it could take hours to get home).

Keep a bit of cash on hand.

Get a battery-powered clock radio.

It's good to have an emergency kit by the front door, complete with bottled water. and dog food.

A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

John is the best in-the-dark buddy ever.

The nighttime heavens are beautiful.

God knew what He was doing when he created light.

I'm never in true darkness.

"You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light."

2 Samuel 22:29

Saturday sunshine

This weekend, I'm looking forward to:

celebrating my mom's 50th birthday (!!!) with

a date with the girls this morning,

brunch and some shopping tomorrow

and dessert tomorrow evening

with a few presents and pictures along the way :)

hanging with my baby this afternoon

some family walks

sunshine (omgosh... i said it)

ice cream and fruit pizza

some crafting

cleaning and laundry

church

and memory making, planned or unplanned :)

Have a sunshiney Saturday!

Living in a 'winter wonderland'

Today, I had a few moments of 'cognitive dissonance,' I believe it's called.

Why?

Because it is 70 degrees and sunny outside.

It's also January 13th.

Isn't it supposed to look like this?

This is what my Dawn's home looks like right now.

(by the way... you have to check out Dawn's blog. she's simply the best :))

I have a mental dilemma.

I enjoy the 70 and sunny weather. 

But I wish it would come, oh... I dunno... in the appropriate season. Like spring. 

And I kinda wish we were having real snow.

But that is okay. 

I will settle for 70 and sunny. 

 And remember that I am so very blessed to live in a place like this.

Truly, San Diego. You are the best.

How do I love San Diego?

Let me count the ways.

1.

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

Although there are times I don't love the weather and want something new...

visiting Point Loma and the harbor, watching the seagulls nap, the boaters boat, and the sea be still

reminds me how blessed I am to live in such a beautiful place as this.