Are We There Yet?

Yet Another Reason I Love Fungi

2008-04-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

Unlike popular belief that mushrooms are void of nutrition, they are actually very very good for you!

Not only are they high in water and fiber which is great for a healthy digestive tract, they are loaded with Riboflavin! Riboflavin is the name for the B2 Vitamin. B2 helps your body cells use oxygen (which is good for us who are anemic), metabolize amino acids (eliminates free radicals) and fatty acids as well as carbohydrates. It's also the precursor needed to activate the B6 vitamin which assists in adrenal gland function and cell reproduction. Isn't that fantastic?!?

So next time you order a salad or a steak, be sure to load up on fresh mushrooms! YUM!

Check out my collection of Fungi Photographs HERE
***The mushroom pictured above is poisonous and should not be eatten***

Guess What?

2008-01-27T16:20:00.000-08:00

It's SNOWING today! It's totally fluffy and huge. I'm extra excited since I get to stay inside and be warm :)

2 Pics

2007-12-16T09:50:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to do a quick post of the tree and our little Christmas goose.

After 5 Years...

2007-11-23T12:57:00.000-08:00

WE EAT TURKEY!
Now that we are in a place of our own, we finally, after 5 years, had our very own Thanksgiving dinner! Of course the best part was the prospect of cooking the turkey. I was so tired the night before that I didn't get the turkey in the brine bath until the next morning, but at least it got a few hours in before cooking.

We decided to experiment: I stuffed the neck and body with cornbread stuffing, rubbed it with canola oil and then Herb d'Provence and baked it for 3 hours. Then we took it out of the oven, took out the stuffing and stuck it pan and all, on the grill outside and smoked it with mesquite chips for about and hour & a half. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of it (it looked Martha Stewart perfect) but it was seriously some of the best turkey we've ever had. I am so happy it came out good, especially considering it was my very first turkey.

We were going to buy a TV form this guy who posted his on craigslist and when Nick went to his place to check it out they hit it off rather well. We didn't get the TV, but since he was spending the day alone, we invited him for dinner. It was really nice to have company and he is officially our first friend in the area. He turns out to be a Christian and like us, is church shopping. He also used to own a Christian book store and gave us a copy of Lee Stroble's "Case For a Creator" and this really neat magnetic bookmark.

Connor was a very good boy and slept through most of dinner. I forgot to put him in his turkey outfit, so I put him in it today and got a picture. The thing is one of those that will keep him really warm, so I can use it as pj's for at least a few more weeks.

In other news, I finally broke down and got some window coverings for the dining room and kitchen. They are not really what I ultimately wanted, but we are renting and if I got what I really wanted (wood shutters) then I'd be putting an investment in the house that is not ours and not to mention, expensive. So I opted for some cute curtains. I'm still not sure I like floral print, but when we get the dinette set, hopefully it will look better. The point is to have some more privacy and keep out the light for when we DO get that TV.

Today I am working on the yard (taking a break right now.) It rained for about a week so the weeds just sprung up like mad. I've got most of the front yard done. I've got to mow and spray off the driveway and sidewalk. The backyard is another adventure altogether. For some reason the weeds are a lot worse back there. I can't mow back there yet though because we got a frost last night and the lawn is still frozen (it's on the northern side) but I just can't put it off another week. I've got to get it mowed while it's still green. Not to mention, I'd like it to look nice for Christmas decorations. Also, I was spraying the weeds on the south property line and found a jelly fungus! This is the first one I've ever seen, so I was pretty excited to find it. I got my camera right away, especially since I accidentally sprayed part of it with the weed killer, so I don't know if I have doomed it or not.

So Excited, I Nearly Cried...

2007-11-04T05:22:00.000-08:00

Well here is another delirious 5am blog but the excitement is still high.

I took a trip to Target yesterday and they got all the Halloween stuff moved over into clearance and they are setting up CHRISTMAS!!!! Now normally I'd be pretty annoyed at how early they have everything out but this year is different and it just goes to show how perspective changes everything.

This is the first year since we have been married (5 years) that we have a home and will actually be able to decorate and have a tree and cook a real Christmas dinner. It may seem like some small thing but not to me. Christmas was always so much fun growing up and when my parents divorced that began to change. We still had Christmas but it was split up between houses and it always involved some fight over who got the kids and for how long. Then I moved out and got my own Christmas tree in a box but still went to the family gatherings. Eventually I moved away to TX and the first Christmas there I spent with my extended family with whom I was living and Nick. He and I had been dating since October. So we had a "real" Christmas then and it was nice but not our own yet.

So anyways, at Target they actually have an entire aisle dedicated to stocking stuffers! (one of my favorite things!) They didn't have the trees set up yet which makes it feel ultimately "Christmassy" but they had the candy, ornaments, lights, cards, paper and bows out. I couldn't resist buying a frosted glass Yoda ornament as Connor's 1st (Nick calls him Yoda). I am just so tickled pink that even though it will be just the 3 of us (unless we get some surprise visitors) it WILL be Christmas this year!

Oh yeah, and the decorating! I can't wait to hang lights on the outside of the house!!! I think I want to go with the large multi-colored ones, kinda old-fashioned since our house is made to kinda look like a 1930's bungalow mixed with your modern "garage out front" track home. I also have 8 little cyprus trees and 2 young maples to wrap in lights. I might even get one of those lighted deer for the lawn. Call me silly but I want to do it, at least once in my life. I want a wreath on the door and a tree in the window and my baby crawling around in piles of crinkly, shiny paper and Bing Crosby playing on the radio. I don't care how many presents are around the tree, I just want to experience it and share it with my husband and son. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!

P.S. Connor finally just fell back to sleep, so it's back to be for an hour or two. HOORAY!

3rd Post of the year..Let's CELEBRATE by looking at tons of pictures!

2007-11-02T22:24:00.000-07:00

Talk about getting behind. I actually meant to do this last year but TOO LATE NOW! I'm just going to focus on 2007...

Picking up where I left off with our baby-making trip to Niagara Falls on Christmas, you should all have figured out by now that I s'ploded a baby boy named 'Connor' about 8 weeks ago. The time has just flown by since then. I can't believe we have already celebrated the first of many fun holidays to come. For the last 5 years or so, we haven't really celebrated much of anything, and if we have, it's been late and jut doesn't feel the same. Speaking of which...

I'll start here with January 1, 2007. We got to Boston on Christmas day...How depressing. Yet again no tree, no gifts, no family, no friends, new town and yucky weather. And unbeknownst to me, I was really cranky because I had just popped an egg. Oh yeah, fast forward to the 1st... I got all dressed up in a new dress and Nick got dressed up in his celebration Tommy Bahama silk pants and shirt and turned on the telly to watch the ball drop while we drank a bunch of the most expensive champagne I've ever had. We actually celebrated something! AMAZING!

Doodleeydoot...fast forward to the 4th. My friend Shanny just had her son and I found out that the night of crankiness in Niagara Falls on Christmas eve turned out to be the last night Nick and I would ever be "2" again. I got my first + pregnancy test!

Doodleeydoot... fast forward to...well...later. By this point I had pregnancy brain and I started to lose track of time. ( I now have "mommy brain" and still have no concept of time.) Anyhow, I got to go to NM the first of 2 times. Mom and I gathered together with some girls for a real "High Tea" which was super-yummy and fun! We all wore hats and took lots of pictures and gorged ourselves on finger-food and clotted cream. I also got to visit with my friend Shanny, her son, her hubby (who were visiting from Germany) and the rest of the gang although I wish I could have visited longer. My Mom and I also took a trip up to Taos (my first!) and bought fun toys for the baby. THAT was a relaxing trip!

So by May Nick and I were gearing up to leave Boston to head back to our "home" in Dallas...Just in time for the hellish weather and killer mosquitoes. But before then, we got a short project in New Jersey so I got to spend a little time in NY. Unfortunately I was pregnant-tired and alone so I didn't get to do much but at least I can say I went and I have pictures to prove it! I even went up to the top of the Empire state building.

We got back to Dallas and started apartment shopping and I also went back to NM for a second trip to help my Mom after a surgery. This ended up being a miserable trip... Well, it was good, but the weather was miserable, worse than Dallas for sure. DRY, HOT, HIGH ELEVATION, BABY IN MY LUNGS & NO AIR CONDITIONING DO NOT MIX!!!

So things didn't work out in Dallas to our extreme dismay and we headed up to Minneapolis. By this time I am 7 months preggo and getting pretty miserable. Driving long distances + pregnant woman = misery. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure that the only reason we ended up in MN is so I could give birth to the baby there. I think if I had in Boston or Dallas, I would have had a MUCH worse experience and I wouldn't have met Jeannette who helped me through labor. At least my mom got to come visit and on HER birthday too!

Fast forward 2 weeks after Connor is born and we rush rush rush to pack and move out. This was truly the most miserable experience of my life, bar none. I have this brand new baby that I want nothing more than to just hold all day and night, I'm barely able to get up and down the stairs still and here we go...off to Oregon.

On our way we at least got to stop and see Nick's family and share the baby but it turned into a lot longer stay than we had anticipated. Really, the DRIVE turned out to be a lot longer due to the trailer being loaded with the weight ill-distributed. We had to drive 45 mph or less through South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana, adding to the misery but thankfully we made it safely. Days later we ended up in Oregon, where I've always wanted to land but never thought I'd get here. We got a cute little house with a real yard, front and back and we even have a giant volcano close by! One of the best things about it so far is the great mild weather and Nick finally got a BBQ grill!

Oh yeah, we did manage to make a couple of cool stops on the way which in a way, made the trip better (but longer.) Mt. Rushmore and the Berkeley Pit mine in Montana.The woods outside our window in Billerica, MA

Nick & Connor at Mt. Rushmore on an absolutely gorgeous day

"THE VOLCANO"

Nick and I drove up to Cape Ann before we left Boston

A puffer fish bath toy I got in Taos

A Spring Peeper Nick found for me when we were in Boston

Me on the top of NY

Nick and Connor at the Berkeley Pit Mine

The Bed and Breakfast we stayed at in Connecticut

Nick the "Grill Master"

Baby Is Here!

2007-10-29T05:14:00.000-07:00

Connor William Arrived at 2:15 am on September 10th, 2007 (Both my Mom's Birthday and my midwife Edi's!) at St. Josephs in St. Paul Minnesota... 7lbs 10 oz, 20 in, 13.25 head circumference. 9 hours of labor, 4 of which were pushing (yikes!) thanks to a short umbilical cord not allowing him to turn face down. Finally assisted with the ventouse for the last 4 contractions to get him out into the open air, otherwise, pretty uncomplicated but amazingly painful! Anyhow, check out his pictures here.
Connor's Blog Is Also Here.

IT'S BABY TIME!

2007-05-24T15:05:00.000-07:00

OK, so now that the word is out to all of our friends and family and we are past some imperative milestones, I can now post something NEW here (finally) and that is: We are expecting our first child!

It has be hard to post anything about what's been going on in life without mentioning it, SO I just didn't post anything for a while. In fact, I haven't posted anything since 3 days before I passed the test back in January. It's high-time, don't you think? Anyhow, to keep my head from exploding I started a baby blog separate from this one and now I can take a big deep breath and link to it from here. I will post all of the cool stuff and big happenings there for the most part. Check it out by clicking HERE or just check out some of my PHOTOS HERE.

P.S. It's a BOY!

Blog Therapy

2007-01-17T07:29:00.000-08:00

HOLEY RUSTED METAL BATMAN! It's been SO long since I've last blogged! I keep wanting to put it off too for some unknown reason, but I am forcing myself to do it today considering I'm sitting here in my bath-robe, it's cold outside, and no car today. Might as well.

So, we finally left San Fran./Oakland. YAY! I always kinda miss wherever we leave because I establish a little bit of a routine and some favorite places to go (like the grocery store) but I really am quite happy to get out of there. Maybe it would be better in the summer and if we stayed in another hotel? The sound of the traffic and the train yard was so bad just all the time, I think I was literally going crazy from sleep deprivation. Everything else was kinda nice (minus bad drivers! A HUGE pet-peeve of mine) but nothing like SoCal where I can head down to the beach and the air is warm. Anyhow, I DID get to see my baby brother that I hadn't seen in a least a couple of years (that makes me sad) and we went and ate some really good PHO and had tea at the Japanese Gardens and strolled around Berkeley (which by the way is thee most liberal-minded place I've ever seen!) It was nice to be with him though. He's in Brazil again now, so who knows when I will get to see him again.

So we took the long drive from SF all the way to Spokane, Washington to FINALLY meet Nick's family! Driving along the Columbia River was just as beautiful as I imagined it would be with huge rock cliffs, evergreens, and this time of year; frozen waterfalls. It really was gorgeous. We got to spend 2 weeks there, visiting everyone, although I think we could have spent another week. I am hoping though that we can make it back there when the weather is warmer and we can get outside more. Anyhow, we got to go through a bunch of boxes of Nick's stuff from years ago and we found some pretty neat stuff like model cars and trains and even a rocket. Maybe some day we will have a little boy who can utilize all that stuff! So anyhow, we rode a ferry out on Lake Coure d’Alene and saw Santa and Mrs. Clause, and saw the tallest decorated Christmas tree in the North America. It was really nice getting to see everyone and spend time, alas I wish we could have had just a FEW more days at least. We still missed Nick's other Brother and his family by about a week. They live in CO. so maybe, just maybe, we will get to go see them before the kidd-O's get too big. I love CO. by the way.

So after Spokane, we headed to Minneapolis, MN for a meeting Nick had there. I was already getting sick by the time we left WA and by the time we rolled in to MN, Nick was feeling just awful. He made his meeting, but we were stuck there for a week while we both got better. Let me tell you, it's even less fun being sick at the same time as your spouse than it is going it alone. I did however, begin to feel a bit better before he did and it just so happened that I got to ride the shuttle across the street to the Mall of America and do some shopping! Nick was feeling better by the end of the week, so he went with me one day to see the underground aquarium that is at the mall. It was really neat. I wish I would have remembered my good camera, but all I had was my cell phone. Oh, we got to pet a stingray and a shark and a horseshoe crab! I have ALWAYS wanted to do that! The rays actually LOVE to be pet! It was amazing.

After we left MN we headed towards Massachusetts, but ended up staying Christmas Eve in Niagara Falls! We got a gorgeous room overlooking both falls that were lit up at night. There was this little slot you could open up in the wall and listen to the sound of the rushing water. It was gorgeous. We didn't have time to go walk around that next morning, so we'd like to go back through and spend a little more time, whenever it is that we head back that direction.

So we made it to Boston on Christmas night. I really hated traveling on Christmas, in fact, I'm still kinda depressed over it, but what's done is done and there is next Christmas on the way.
Anyhow, we are in a very quiet and pretty spot outside the city and just yesterday it finally decided to get cold. There is a TON of photography ops. to do here, so I am really looking forward to seeing what develops. Not a whole lot to say about the place yet. We're settling in and we may be here for quite a while. We'll just have to wait and see, as usual.

Well there, I blogged and got it out of my system. Hopefully I won't take so long to post the next one! In the meantime, there are more photos to be seen here.

New Politics

2006-11-08T09:51:00.000-08:00

Well...

Australia lifted it's ban on cloning human embryo's. I think it's a travesty, but I also say "Good, let them screw up and figure out it's a worthless chase so we don't have to." At the same time, let's not be whiny Americans that act like 2 year-olds and whine: "Waaaaaaa! The Australians are doing it, why can't weeeeeeeee?" Oh wait, the Missourians just voted up "protecting" embryonic stem cell research. DOH!

Arizona proclaimed English as their official state language. Good for you Arizona, now if the rest of the USA would just catch on...

It seems Colorado, Nevada & South Dakota voted down making marijuana legal. No worries pot-heads, this doesn't mean that the plants growing in your closet or back up on the hill behind your house are going to shrivel up and die. It just means that your local Starbucks won't be converting into a Hashbar any time soon.

Overwhelmingly, I've seen so far the vote to keep the definition of marriage between one man and one woman as it is. Good, we are one step above keeping the definitions of things like "elephant" to mean "either of two large, five-toed pachyderms of the family Elephantidae, characterized by a long, prehensile trunk formed of the nose and upper lip..." rather than "a horse of any small type or breed" or any other definition we might find amusing to please and entertain ourselves and call "the pursuit of happiness."

IT IS AUTUMN!

2006-11-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

I just had to post these since it's Autumn. I went to visit a new friend (long-time online acquaintance) here in Cali on Halloween, and we took some pictures up in the Tahoe National Forrest. PERFECTLY FITTING for this time of year and really gives me a true sense of what time of year it is. It's hard traveling so much because the weather is different everywhere I go. Autumn is BY FAR my favorite season!!!

I hope you enjoy. MORE PICTURES HERE

New Pics From San Francisco!

2006-10-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

We drove over the bridge yesterday at dusk and it was amazingly beautiful!
I got this new FLASH thingie to show off some pictures. if you don't have flash and can't see it below or you want to see additional pictures in another format click HERE

Too Cool

2006-10-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

I have loved this movie for years and now I fianlly have a way to share it!

The Fall

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San Francisco

2006-10-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I have not really gotten out and about yet here in San Fran, but I'm sure I will be doing more exploring over the next few weeks and be able to post more pictures. For now, here are a couple from a park not too far from where we are.

Fear of Dreams

2006-07-31T12:41:00.000-07:00

So, a few nights ago I dreamed that an old friend of mine was breaking up with her husband and I was there trying to comfort her and listen to why they had broken up. Well, I went to her website today for the first time in a month or so, and guess what? They just got divorced! I'm so saddened by this, yet I am so creeped out that I dreamed about it. How scared should I be to dream such things?

Mmmmm, The Salty Sea.

2006-07-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to say that I finally made my way to the Pacific Coast and after being here for almost 2 weeks, I actually made it to the beach too :) (Considering I am 5 minutes away!) It's about time and it was sooooo lovely. Although, I forgot how bad the Pac-O smells. Not at all the sweet-salty smell you get in he Caribbean. More Fishy, but still nice and salty and I can happily say that I didn't have to feel bad for crushing thousands of little hermit crabs under my feet just from walking. The shells are not NEARLY as good as the Caribbean, but I did manage to find a few, along with an almost whole purple sand dollar and a live clam that was stranded from the tide. I threw it home but I would have really loved to have a bucket of seawater to take it home in. I'm such a kid like that. I tried that with the hermit crabs in Curacao, but I forgot them on the counter and their water evaporated and they crawled out of their little shells and died. That was a sad day indeed. Needless to say though, I’m loving California. It's always the perfect temperature, and even when it's 90 outside, it doesn't feel like it. I have been reminded why people pay so much to live here, despite the landslides, earthquakes, wild-fires etc. It's lovely and I have an urge to stay here forever and bump up the Republican ticket by one.

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted anything at all, so I have a lot to write and lots of pictures to stuff in between. So, as a courtesy, I'll just mention that I'll go backwards.

We didn't do anything, sadly, for the 4th, but last weekend we drove out to Long Beach and checked out the Queen Mary and the Scorpion, Russian Submarine. Since the last time I was out here about 8-9 years ago, the Queen Mary has opened up considerably and they are also featuring a Titanic Artifact exhibit. When you walk in they hand you this "Boarding g Pass" with information about a real passenger that sailed the Titanic. I was Kate Bourke, a 3rd Class Irish passenger and Nick was Col. John J. Astor IV: The wealthiest man on the ship. Needless to say...(as you might guess), Kate did not survive and the Colonel did. I wasn't supposed to take any pictures, otherwise you'd be seeing some neat artifacts right now, but I did manage to sneak a couple here and there. One I wanted to get was of the "real" ice burgh in one of the rooms and you can put your hand on to freeze it off. Very cool.

Other little things that probably don't mean much to anyone but me but I'm still excited to share: On our way here we stopped in Phoenix, where it was a cool 112 and visited the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church where it just so happened that Dr. James White was giving the sermon that day on the act of Baptism, reading from Acts. I carried my camera with me but I didn't get a photo with J.W., which I later regretted when I was teased about it. Maybe next time, huh? Anyhow, if it weren’t so dang hot in Phoenix, I'd want to live there just so I can go to that church. SOLID. I guess I'll just have to keep listening online in my air-conditioned hotel room.

For the first time in my life I saw Saguaro Cacti! I really wanted to get out and take a picture next to one, but that didn't happen. Again, maybe on the way back. I was awesome finally getting to see them though and then watching the sun set behind them. The day before, we spent about 3 hours touring the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. Now this place was my kind of park. It's like, 116 outside, so you are driving down the road, pull off onto one of the sight-seeing spots, take a picture or two, walk around a few minutes and then get back into your air-conditioned car and drive to the next spot. It's actually designed that way. Even then, we still managed to get sunburned and dehydrated. It's an amazing thing to think "Who would want to see a bunch of wood turned to rocks?", but believe me, it's a lot. I should have gotten a magnet, doh! I can't believe I forgot about that. I was more intrigued by the big hunks of polished, petrified trees for $50 than anything I guess.

The drive between the west side of Albuquerque and L.A. was gorgeous. I don't understand how anyone could say otherwise, except maybe geological formations aren't fascinating to them. I personally think the "Ring of Fire" should be extended to the middle of NM, because the volcanic and fault formations are just amazing. The closer we got to LA, the bigger the mountains became and it was just range after range after range of jagged, sharp peaks. (The pictures in now way do them justice) Also, as a side note, when passing through Flagstaff there was a sign warning us to watch out for elk. I've never actually seen a live elk before other than on TV, so I was hoping I'd get to see one, but hopefully not crunched through the windshield of our truck. Well, not even a quarter-mile further down, there was a HUGE, I mean MASSIVE bull elk dead on the side of the road, antlers and all. That thing was bigger than any cow or steer I've ever seen in my life! Not too later I saw two cow elk, also dead on the sides of the road. I started to think it was inevitable that we'd hit one or see one bounding across the highway, but we didn't. But, dead or alive, they are some of the biggest animals I've ever seen. I still want an elk-ivory ring or earrings some day. Some day....

Well, before our long 2-day trip we stayed at my mom's house for 2 weeks where we did pretty much nothing EXCEPT we went to my cousin's Graduation Luau, visited an old friend, visited my grandma, went to a Isotope's ball game, took my dad out for Father's Day lunch and a movie (X-Men III), celebrated my husband's birthday, rode the Tram and...drum roll please....brbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbr...I bought a pair of hiking boots, went hiking (mostly in the shade mind-you) and got terribly sunburned, which has now faded to a lovely golden tan on my top half. Which is why I will be wearing a sweater over my swimsuit in the coming days; as to protect my top half and even out the color on my bottom half. I'm seriously looking forward to getting some sun on my legs for once, even if it's just a little tiny bit, it makes a huge difference for me. I guess we did more than I thought. It was so nice being able to play with the animals every day. They are unconditional in their affection and playfulness and so eager to please and protect.

We managed to stop in Dallas for a day and it was busy-busy and miserably hot and humid. It's actually a very good thing that we don't spend the summers there, although I still desperately long for a permanent home. I think we are on our way back there after this, but in a way I'm hoping to spend some more time on the west coast and maybe up in the NW to visit my in-laws and/or visit a few (cooler) state parks while it's still summer.

So, in all, we drover from Michigan, to St. Louis, to Dallas, to Albuquerque, to Phoenix to LA and it looks like we may just be doing the same thing all over again, except backwards. I'm hoping to at least take a different route. Michigan was very very nice when it wasn't cold; well even then it was nice. I really have nothing to complain about. The people were nice, the surroundings were beautiful and green, shopping was great and so was the coffee! Toasted Marshmallow Latte's from Caribou Coffee can't be beat! Oh, and New York Seltzer! I haven't had that since I visited California when I was six. Our hotel was right near a small airstrip where we got to see small planes and helicopters land and take off all day and also the Canadian Geese walk around and wait to lay their eggs. Did you know baby geese look like mini-ostriches? They do. We also went to Sarnia in Ontario Canada. Not all touristy like we thought it would be, but it was a very crisp cool day, the water was gorgeous and we found a restaurant called "Montana's" where I had the largest beef ribs ever. We even managed to get some mad cow, um, I mean beef ribs back to...um. Never mind. Anyhow, we visited with a friend of mine who moved up to Ohio too. A couple of times actually. We went to the Toledo Zoo and also The Butterfly Pavilion. I also visited the Detroit Zoo on my own time, though I didn't get to see the whole thing cause I got there a bit later than expected. Oh, and we also stopped at the St. Louis Gateway arch on a freezing cold day on our way up to MI. That thing is amazing, kind of like the 8th Wonder of the World. I just look at it and wonder...

Well, I'm hoping we will get to do a bunch of different things while we are still in Cali. but I doubt we will get to do everything. There's so much to do out here. There's Disneyland, Knots Berry Farm, Ripley's, The Wax Museum, Grumman's Chinese Theater & Walk of Fame, Beverly Hills Shopping, Universal Studios, The Beaches, Magic Mountain...It goes on and on. I just hope to do a few of them.

To see more photos, click HERE

Yay! I'm Conservative!

2006-05-01T11:22:00.000-07:00

You are a
Social Conservative(36% permissive)
and an...
Economic Conservative(65% permissive)
You are best described as a:

Republican.
You exhibit a very well-developed sense of Right and Wrong and believe in economic fairness.

Take The Quiz! Click HERE

Amazing Grace

2006-02-12T20:29:00.000-08:00

I am in such an amazing state of grace I cannot even begin to understand it, nor WHY in the world God would grant this to me. I am a spoiled child. I read of other sufferings and wonder WHY, WHY? Have I been spared from such things? Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound, who saved a wretch like me...even before I've reached Heaven! I do not deserve this wonderful life that I have been given. Yet, the Lord spares me. Not only does he spare me from eternal separation from Him but he spares me of SO MANY struggles that the rest of the world must endure. My Mighty Savior. My Jesus Saves me. Why? I will learn SOME day, but for now I must give thanks and stand in awe of such kindness and amazing love!

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found;

Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils and snares,

I have already come;

'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,

His Word my hope secures;

He will my Shield and Portion be,

As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease,

I shall possess, within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,

The sun forbear to shine;

But God, Who called me here below,

Will be forever mine.

When we've been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we'd first begun.

Turkey Day Pictures

2005-11-25T14:04:00.000-08:00

Pictures From Thanksgiving Here!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2005-11-23T23:52:00.000-08:00

The George Washington 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor -- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be -- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks -- for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation -- for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the tranquility [sic], union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed -- for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted -- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions -- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually -- to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed -- to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn [sic] kindness onto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord -- To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease [sic] of science among them and us -- and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York
the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

George Washington

New Mexico

2005-11-23T15:37:00.000-08:00

Wow! Well, I finally got some pictures up from my New Mexico tip in October! You can look at them Here

I Love My Nick!

2005-10-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

Afternoon at Scottish Rite Hospital

2005-09-19T23:27:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I got together with the youth group from church, to spend some time with kids at Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas. The pictures are Here

To read more about Scottish Rite click Here

An Amazing Artist

2005-08-23T11:07:00.000-07:00

I want to share another awesome artist with everyone: LUC FREYMANC. Although his work is what I would call "simplistic" I still find it beautiful and intreaguing. He has a wonderful facination with The Lord.
I'd share a picture with you, except there is this little thing called "copyright,"
so you will just have to click on Luc's name to see his online art gallery!

Goodbye CT

2005-08-13T13:15:00.000-07:00

Before we left Connecticut we went out with some of the folks Nick worked with. They were all a really great group of people. Everyone was very nice. We were definitely blessed. Thanks to everyone for being so cool!