This too shall pass

I really don't like to give very much credit to any particular day of the week. In general. For instance, I've never been one to say Fridays and Saturdays are my favorite. In fact, I like to think I am optimistic in saying Thursdays are usually my favorite day of the week. Depending on the week. :)

And then there's Tuesday. Tuesdays have always tended to be my least favorite day of the week. However, this semester, I head to Oceanside every Tuesday to complete my clinical requirement for mental health. Needless to say, it takes all I have to make it.

But I hate being negative. Truly truly hate it. So, I have made a list of three reasons I like Tuesdays (at least the next 11 Tuesdays).

1. Excellent worship in the car for a full hour every morning.
A current favorite is Vicky Beeching's "Stronger than the Storm"

When we're soaked by the rain of sorrow
When we're battered by winds of change
When the world all around is shaking
and we're deafened by crashing waves
You are stronger than the storm
You are reigning over all
Faithful God you're always in control
You're the anchor of peace for our souls
With one word you can calm the ocean
Turning chaos to glass like sea
Speak unshakeable hope to our hearts
Be our fortress of perfect peace
We will trust in you.

2. 15 minutes at the beach with the Lord, His Word, and His creation. Blessed that my clinical is two blocks from the ocean.

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12

3. I get to wear a jacket... because it's actually cool in the mornings :)

And now, 3 reasons I am thankful for this Tuesday.
1. Happy Elephant Appreciation Day!
2. Happy first day of Fall (I'm on a hunt for fall colors in San Diego nature).
3. Dinner at Claim Jumper with J, complete with mud pie.

Lessons from MWS

Last night we celebrated our dear friend Katie's birthday. And I was reminded of Michael W. Smith's song, "Friends." Katie and Mark are those friends he sings about.

"And friends are friends forever if the Lord's the Lord of them.
And a friend will not say never, because the welcome will not end.
Though its hard to let you go, in the fathers hands we know that a lifetime's not too long to live as friends."

God has blessed us with friends to encourage our relationship and enrich our life as we journey through daily life.
Happy birthday Katie!

This weekend's moments

Beautiful Point Loma sunsets.
Date night with my hubby! Thank you honey. I love to be with you!
I got tickets to Lamb's Players Theater for my birthday from J's parents (thanks!), so we went to see "Leaving Iowa" Saturday night. So cute! We made a night of it and went to dinner at the cutest (fanciest) Italian place... way fancier than we thought. They put the napkin in my lap! Who does that? There's a first time for everything :)
I even ate this! And liked it!
Day with the girls.
Delicious and beautiful lunch, courtesy of Brie :)
The most amazing paper store... ever.
Fun coffee shops.
Random household decorations.
An auto ferry to the cutest little island ever. Who knew they put cars on boats?!
Fun taffy at the cutest candy shop!

Wedded Bliss

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."
Genesis 2:24

This weekend I went up to Sacramento with my parents and sister to go to my cousin's wedding. We all met at the airport... Mom and Steve picked me up, and Carly walked off the plane soon after. Funny! The really funny part was that my parents got a PT cruiser for rent!
We cruised to our ultra fab hotel in our ultra awesome PT. We met up with my mom's half sister and her little girl (Aunt Drina and Kendra) for some excellent frozen yogurt.
Then we headed back to our hotel to beautify before heading to the McKinley Rose Garden for Jeff and Kirsten's wedding. This is them with Jeff's parents, my Uncle Dave and Aunt Helene.
To the reception in downtown Sac town, only a block away from the state capital. So pretty at night. We spent about ten minutes trying to get this picture right. :)
Don't I have the most pretty mom and sister ever??!!We snagged Jeff for a picture at the end.
Then a quick turn-around the next morning as we headed off to the airport. Carly on her plane, and the three of us to San Diego.
As quick as it was, I am so glad I was able to go and take a mini family vaca to see my cousin get married. Congratulations Jeff and Kirsten! Marriage is God's best gift to his people.

How quickly it changes

Ahh, amazing how quickly we go from frolicking...

to the books.

This is looking to be a very 'fun' semester. :)
And I remember His truth.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

She never ceases to make me laugh.

Happy birthday Kris!

Today is my mother-in-law's birthday! To celebrate, we went to Corvette Diner last night with the fam. Quite the experience! If you've ever been to Corvette Diner, you know their trademark entrance...I love this car! I thoroughly enjoyed the huge heads of hair, the "all-restaurant" chicken dance, and the thumping Beatles music :). But really I did. And it was fun to be with J and his parents and grandmas. What sweet grandmas. Anyway, back to the house for some yummy ice cream cake (nice work John Sr!).
I am very blessed to have such a special second family. They have welcomed me in so warmly and I really enjoy getting to be with them. Kris you are a wonderful MIL and it has been so fun to have coffee dates this month! (and last...). Thanks for all of your encouragement and support. I love you!

And Happy Birthday!!!

A Spot of Tea

Friday ... check.
Mom ... check.
Carly ... check.
Grandma ... check.
Tea ... check.
English accents ... check.
There is nothing like sipping tea with my favorites. My mom booked us to go to the Aubrey Rose Tea Room yesterday before my sister and I go back to school next week. From the moment I got the email from my mom ... "Would you like to have tea next Friday at 11? I'm going to book it..." I have been eagerly anticipating the day. Ladies tea. The four of us.

There is something about tea that brings women together (or men, but mostly women). When a woman says to another woman, "would you like to have tea?" it means more than that. Tea time is a time for laughter, a time to relax and sip the daily stresses of life away, a time to reconnect and share stories with each other, a time to pull out the English accents (if only I was as good as my sister). Tea time is a break in the day. An hour (or two) of peace and joy.

I knew this. Because we have had tea before. And so I waited with excitement for tea time to fellowship with my mom, grandma, and little sister.
And we laughed. And drank tea. And ate sandwiches and dainty fruit slices and desserts and scones. And looked around the cute store filled with tea pots and tea cups and all sorts of beautiful gifts. And drank more tea. And talked about life.
Grandma told us her story of killing a rattlesnake outside her house with her two shovels. My sweet beautiful Grandma. Needless to say, Carly and I were very impressed. And Mom piped in with a story about when she was younger and how Grandma had saved her cat, Flower, from a rattlesnake with her shovel. And Grandma told us of her most proud attack with her long-handled clippers. And we laughed and laughed. And I thought, I hope I will be brave enough to kill the rattlesnake to save my kid's kitty one day, just like my grandma.
And then my sister told us about her last day at work - she worked in a vet boarding office. And she explained the fabrics she gave the office to use for dog bandanas (each dog gets a bandana), and I thought how proud of my little sister I am. Everyone at work loves her, and I thought, man and they don't even know the whole Carly like I do. We listened to her as she told us funny stories about the animals, and we all laughed.
And my mom talked about the specialness of tea time and these special moments, and we all pondered the blessing of three generations coming together over tea. And I thanked the Lord for tea time, and for special moments.

Pancakes please

Pancakes may be my favorite food. If that counts. I adore pancakes. To the point where, if I am ever rich, I will hire someone to make me pancakes every morning. With powdered sugar. Actually, I probably would just hire my sister. That's not as wierd. And she's a darn good pancake maker... not that she's made them for me. But based on her other meals she makes, I think she is probably a darn good pancake-maker.

Regardless. J surprised me Friday morning and took me to breakfast before he went to work. Oh how I LOVE to go out to breakfast with J! And we got to use a coupon... have I mentioned how much I love coupons? I have a super cute coupon book with my coupons organized by category... I recommend them for $1 at Michaels. Anyway.

I don't ever think to take a picture once I get the pancakes, but this is us in anticipation.
Thank you honey for breakfast. I love to be with you, and you + pancakes = perfection!

A tribute to sprouts

This past weekend I was perusing the fruit and veggie section of Albertsons and came across sprouts. It's been years since I had sprouts. And I had to have them. So I could make the sprouts sandwich I so fondly remember.

When I was little, my grandma used to make me sprouts sandwiches. That's it. No meat. Just sprouts, bread and mayonnaise. And I loved them. In fact, I asked for them. Often. And no one else could make them. Not my mom. "Jordanna it's the same thing you have at Grandma's." "No Mom it's different." Sorry Mom. But Grandma had to make it and we had to be at her house. Because everything is better at Grandma's. We would sit at her table and I would tell her stories and we would eat our sprouts sandwiches. And it was the best.

So today, in honor of lunchtime with Grandma, I made myself a sprouts sandwich (I added the turkey and cheese to... add a little something extra). And it was really good. But next time I am at Grandma's house, I think I am going to ask her to make me a sprouts sandwich. Because everything is better at Grandma's.

The morning routine

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. Most definitely. I love to slice up some strawberries and bananas just like my mom used to do for me. I love to pour a bowl of vanilla cheerios (the greatest invention since pancakes) and brew some coffee. Then "help" my coffee become much more fun to drink... enter french vanilla creamer and cool whip. Yes. Cool whip. Again, thanks Mom.

Then I get Luigi out of his cage and get him some cheerios of his own on his paper towel right next to me. I flip open my bible and enjoy my breakfast while reading God's word, listening to Luigi chomp away and feeling Emma lying under my feet, her eyes watching me with her pitiful "if you loved me you would share" look, hoping for her own cheerio.


I usually move to the couch to finish reading and Emma sits with me.


Then, Emma and I discuss what to do. Sometimes we go to the park. Most of the time we go for a walk. But today, she picked the beach. Well, I picked. Again. And boy was she excited. She bounded through those waves like there was no tomorrow.


By the time we were done, she was exhausted...


... and soooooo sandy and salty, so as soon as we got home she went into the tub. And then, she was clean, frizzy and happy.

mornings ... breakfast ... coffee ... the Bible ... Emma ... the beach ... being clean ...

these are a few of my favorite things.