Good bye!

I'm leaving in 1 hr for a week at camp. Woo hoo!

When I get back I'm only going to have two weeks (less--teacher meetings will start in 1 and a half weeks!) to get ready for school. YIKES! I don't have the curriculum or anything yet. I'm thinking I'm gonna be doing the fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants thing.

HANNAH--Can you bubbs me the date that you think you'll be driving through? My 'rents say if you want, you're still welcome to stay here even though I'm not here! If you do, call my home number (if you don't have it, someone should--I know Donna does).

Adieu, adieu, to the rest of you. I'll let ya know how the week went when I return.

*Muah!*

Getting ready for camp!

Town Square
Hey girlsies.
How's it going?

Well, I'm still adjusting to stuff here. It is weird to come home and feeli like an outsider! Not that I feel that way at home, but I do when interacting with potential friends. I guess I'm just a little bit lonely.

Even though they aren't my peers, I love the high school girls. We've been having fun doing our little discussion group. And I'm so excited about camp this week. We're going to Hume Lake. I can't wait! It will be so much fun! I really love camp, ya know? It's a great place to really connect with students and see major changes take place.

If you all think about it this next week, please pray for my studnets! You can also pray that I connect with Courtney, Alyssa, John, Grant and the others on staff (the ones I listed are the ones closest to my age).

Have fun at the wedding tomorrow, Val! How's the new church been? Have you decided whether to commit wholeheartedly to it or are you still sorta sniffing around? Congrats on the job and feel better soon!

Everyone else (that would be you Michelle and Hannah!) I wrote to you in my last post and haven't heard from ya since so...go read that. :)

Love ya

From the Lap of Luxury

Hey ladies!
I'm housesitting once again, at the same house as last times. Hannah, remember the bodets (sp? boday?) in Europe? This family has one built into their toilet in the master bath. At least that's what I think it is. They also have a bathtub with jets! I'm here to take care of the dog, Major. I have to let him outside so he can pee. Exciting huh? It's been peaceful here. A bit (make that much!) too peaceful. I'm going stir crazy!

A bunch of kids are going to come over here tonight for a bbq. I think it may be the whole jh group, I'm not sure. I love how hospitable this family is! They open their home to everyone and anyone who needs it. They left me their car keys, so I could drive their car if I "needed to" (why I couldn't drive mine, I don't know).

Well, I have temporarily misplaced Athanasius. I have a gift for mislaying books. I think it may actually be in my trunk, but I'll have to hunt it down. I'm less than 100 pgs in. I started rereading Chesterton's Orthodoxy today. He makes me happy!

Hannah, how exciting about another car! Are you guys worried at all about more break-ins now that you have new vehicles? Is Matt going to sell his truck? I saw a truck that looked just like his (old one) here the other day!

Michelle, I'm sooo glad it's not hot here like it is in AZ, but I do envy you the monsoons. A bit. I loved 'em in India and the summer we experienced 'em in AZ on a missions trip. They are so cool!

Val, I hate awkward doctor moments. :( But it's over and maybe you'll start seeing some improvement on your face! (Crossing fingers!) I'm not one to ask about making friends...the best thing I can advise is getting involved somewhere quickly, and trying to build relationships with the people there.

Speaking of, I feel as if I have no friends here. :( There are lots of potentials, but Brandie and my sis are the only true blue friends I have, and Brandie is crazy busy, and I feel bad intruding on my sis's life all the time. I should see B today, though, that will be nice. I've been very lonely. :( I feel out of place, like this isn't really my home.

Stuff with the hs girls is going great. We had a blast talking about faith/reason, and are going to start talking about women stuff next week. The girls have such differing opinions to start with, but haven't encountered many of the verses/sources that I'm presenting them with. So it's fun!

Camp is just one week away. I am so stoked. There's one other gal my age (sorta) going on the trip, and I'm hoping to get to know her while we're there.

Anyway, I should go. THe kids are gonna e here in 15 min or so...

Love, Danielle
PS Michelle, my pass expires in late August!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Its off to work i go...

Actually, I have all ready been here for 3 hrs, but I couldn't think of a catchy tune to sing about being at work. Feels weird to work Saturdays, but I like them, b/c the traffic is less in the AM, the parking lot was empty and the boss is out.

So, we are moving tomorrow! Not far, just across and up. There is an older gentleman who is living up there, but his knees can't take the stairs. He was hoping someone would move out, but no one has in the last ocuple of months. Matt and I thought it would be great to have an upstairs apt, with a balcony and all, so we decided to switch with him. Wow! what a TON of work...even if its only like 200 ft, I still have to get EVERYTHING in boxes. and if you guys thought you had a lot of stuff, you wouldn't believe how much i've accumulated this past year!!! please pray that it goes okay-- we have people coming to help, so it should be smooth, but i'm stressed anyway. We need to move it to the carport first, clean, move the guy down, clean, then move our stuff up, in a day! Then I need to unpack before my dad comes on Thursday...but I work MTWTh (44 hrs total) so i'm not sure when i'll get to it. Besides all that, I need to get ready for WA the week after! AGH!

Perhaps you wonder at the picture I've included today. That, my friends, is the SECOND new vehicle we are purchasing. Yes, we are the big spenders this summer...hopefully it will hold us over for a while. My poor little mind cant handle all the bills! = ) Matt's truck was really doing badly, so in the words of a great country singer "Sell your truck while its still runnin'..." Y'all probably don't know the song. But anyways, we bought this one instead. Its a 2004 Toyota Tundra, fully loaded i think, but it was totalled at one time. That means its a salvage title and we get it cheaper. Matt is thrilled-- i gues its spotless and everything he wanted. Hope he still lets me drive the beamer to WA though!

okay, enough new news from me. Shell, glad you are surviing the heat. I honestly don't understand how you manage. The 90-100 heat out here is killin' me...I know what you mean about the lethargic part...I seriously am useless at about 2 pm till 5 pm.

Val, how is the sickness? Must I come to Vegas to nurse you back to health?? I am VERY bummed that you aren't coming. It seems like the trend- Danielle can't come here, you can't come here, Michelle can't go to Vegas...what's going on??

Diz-- how did your group go? how is your spiritual discipline doing? are you reading athanasius?? i have a question about it, something to do with "The Divine Image' but i don't remember where exactly it is. If you or Val knows where, post some thoughts on what that is.

love you all!!

NEWS!

check this out!! right up there with the dead Phoenix-cians! But even better! We made national news...and this is seriously (nearly) next door to Matt's old house in WA!

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_072105WABtunnel_arrestsLJ.1aba20b2.html

I'm bored too.

It's lame being home alone without you girls! I'm staying busy, but not doing stuff with PEOPLE as much as I'd like (or not with the sort of PEOPLE who count, you know, peers, "ol' friends," that sort).

Hanging with the old youth pastor and his fam went fine. I think they are really doing really well. That was encouraging! But they've never really been my friends, you know? They were my pastor and his wife. So I don't really know what to say to them, so in that way it was awkward.

The kickoff for my theology discussion group is tomorrow. I'm excited about it. Should be fun. Tomorrow I'm just going to talk a bit about faith and reason, and talk with them about where we want the group to go. What sorts of things we want to discuss, etc. I'm hoping it's something that we can do all year, or for a few months anyway. It would be fun.

Do you guys have any ideas about topics we could discuss? They're really into Calvinism v. Armenianism. I was also thinking about looking at the role of the woman in the church (submission/headship v. egalitarianism sort of stuff). And maybe things like the role the Christian should play in politics (culture of life? I don't know).

So, any ideas?

Michelle, are you still alive? I hope so, because it would be terrible if you were one of the 13. The weather here is actually cooler--it hasn't broke 100 in three days! Wowsers!

I'm trying to start documenting my expenditures. I'm going to start carrying a planner/notebook with me EVERYWHERE. Just as soon as I finish decoupaging the cover. :)

I have been so undisciplined this summer. I have hardly read the Bible, and I spend too much money, and am messy. Eww. Instead of wasting time online, I guess I'm gonna go read the word--and start preparing for that group tomorrow!
-Danielle

PS I LOVE YOU!

No One's here!

Alas! Danielle's foresight is painfully true...i cry.

I'm hot too...

And bored enough to post, I guess. Actually, there is fresh banana bread in the oven and I'd like to go read a bit, but I'm faithfully here writing to you all, so Danielle's deepest fears about losing us will not come to pass on my part.

Thanks for your inputs on my spiritual walk. I've started Isaiah for now, along with Proverbs, to stay practical. Speaking of the bible, does anyone know what the book of "Wisdom" is that Athanasius constantly quotes from?? Its not Proverbs...is it an outside source? just curious...

guess what! I bought a new computer today! hooray! this one has slowly been winding itself down and matt's been bugging me about it forever! so, i got a pretty nice desktop, flat screen monitor, all-in-one printer, etc. I decided i just don't want a laptop yet. can't wait till it get here!

Danielle-- I was talking to Charity about Crescent and her family...she said she had been in Europe with her, and she was really woried about her ssister at the time. She was stunned when I told her. But i couldn't remember if you had said younger or older sister, or what happened to the guy...is ihe in jail? a trial coming?

how is everyone's families? adjusting to home life okay?

Me Again

I think I need to work on more interesting subject titles. The Muses just have not been bringing me the inspiration needed for something terribly clever!

I'm home for a few hours before heading back to the Foxes. I've been having fun with Sara. Yesterday I went up with her and some folks to Donner Lake (Amazingly beautiful, especially in winter. But the location of some tragic, cannibalistic happenings that California gets to call a key part of its history). It was grand! We spent the day on or near the water. The Foxes were there, and so were two other families, friends of the Foxes. It was neat for me to see a big number of adult friends all hanging out--my parents have never been very social, so while they stay fairly busy with our extended family, I don't see them interact much with more than a couple or so at a time. They taught me to play poker, and gave me alcohol. I had my first sip of a cosmopolitan last night. Yum! I tasted straight vodka recently though, and blech. I don't know how people could stand to drink it. It was fun getting to talk to Allison (Danny the youth pastor's girlfriend). It was one of those rare times (for me anyway) that it was completely painless and immediately comfortable to converse with a practical stranger. I would like to become good friends with her and Danny, but who knows. This guy Mitch was also there; he's an 18-yr-old intern at my church. He was a bit annoying, but someone I could see myself being friends with anyway. It was greatly encouraging to me; I've been missing seeing my dear friends daily, and it was nice to be reminded that there are people out there that I will begin building solid friendships with. Of course they will never replace ya'll!

Val, I read your post, but you didn't actually publish it. Was that on purpose? I'm going to respond to it anyway. :) First though, how is "stuff"? Just as hard as all year, or is it any different being away from Biola and memories? I was thinking about you the other day, and hoping that you're still making progress on your road to healing, even if that progress doesn't look any different than it did a few months ago! Re: Dostoevsky, I'm thinking you must be talking about rereading the hold Grand Inquisitor speech? Yeah? If I remember correctly, it's supposed to be countered well by a speech Zosima makes in the next book/section whatever. Michelle (Miss I-took-a-semester-long-class-on-Dostoevsky-and-you-can-bet-I-took-copious-notes!), Do you know what I'm talking about? I really really enjoyed Bros. K, too. Especially Alyosha. I enjoyed Crime and Punishment as well. I really admire Dostoevsky, as a writer. I think he does an outstanding job at letting his characters live instead of forcing them into following his plans for them. Are you going back to the same church on Sunday (I guess that's tomorrow)?

Michelle, how was your first full week back at work? Was it fun getting to hang out with the little folk? :) It's been hot here in Sac, too, but about 10 degrees cooler than in AZ. And it gets down to almost 90 at night!

Hannah, the whole reason I signed on tonight was cuz I realized I didn't respond to your direct question about Bible reading. I don't know what to tell you, either, other than read what you want. I'm doing a read through the Bible in a year thing, that I started in Feb. It'll probably be next June by the time I'm done, becuase I started late and have missed many days, but it's a nice way to read it anyway. Right now I'm mostly in II Samuel, but do occasional readings in Luke and Proverbs to mix things up. How is everything? Are you getting to do lots at work, etc?

Oh, I guess an update on the John thing (which of course is not a thing at all, just a silly Danielle). I've decided he's too sarcastic for me to like right off the bat. I may end up liking him anyway (I tend to like the sarcastic ones) but I'm not going to assume he's good to like till I get to know him. Duh! What a concept, eh?

Much love to you ladies. I hope all's well in your world. I'm going to go work on my myspace page. :P

Love, Danielle

Shocking, huh?

I agree with Hannah. I can't believe it's believe its been two days since anyone has posted. I was thinking about "us" today--I just finished rereading this excellent book on friendships (_Women and Friendships_ by Dee Brestin. I highly recommend it!), and it made me think of ya'll. I really do hope that you are going to be my lifetime friends, but I'm scared that we're going to give up on keeping up with correspondence.

Anyway. There's my two sense. Cents. Whatever. Last night I spent about 40 min talking to a girl who just found out her 16 yr old step sis is pregnant. Yikes! It's so crazy how much one person's decisions greatly affect everyone else in his/her life! I really want to make a difference in the lives of these girls, but I feel so unequipped. I'm trying to hang out with as many of them as I can this summer, but that feels like so little. And I'm so embarrassed about my house that I don't want to invite them over. I should just get over that, but it's such a big stigma for me. My mom had a friend over the other day to swim and didn't even apologize for the mess. It didn't seem to phase her in the least. And it's her mess, and my dad's mostly, but somehow I have a hard time getting over it.

I'm spending the weekend with Sara, one of the high school students (Hannah, or maybe Michelle, I can't remember which of you it was, we went over to her house while you were here. It's a big house, with a vaulted ceiling. Her mom's name is Laurie and her dad is Marc). Anyway, her 'rents are out of town for the weekend and she needed someone to keep her company in the house, so I'll be there till Sunday (and maybe no internet, so don't expect updates from me!). Tomorrow we're going to Tahoe with Danny (one of the new youth pastors) and his girlfriend Allison, to meet up with Sara's family. Should be fun!!

In other less exciting news, I spent more than $400 fixing my car today, and have to take it BACK next week. >_< grrr.


Autumn Rainwater's funeral will be Tuesday. Please continue to pray for the family.

Much love!!!

TWO days??!!

I cannot believe that nearly two days have slipped by without one of our precious 4 posting their blog thoughts and feelings. = )

I personally, feel a grand anticipation just opening the blog, never knowing who has posted about what. I've wanted to blog some more personal things than I have, but have felt restricted by the public area in which I post in (i.e. at work). Ps, Octobor is good for me, as much as any time.

So, I don't think I know how to read my bible lately. I just feel a sense of not knowing what I should be reading. should I focus on Christ through the gospels? Think more deeply about John? Memorize life advice in the epistles? Review my history in the OT?? I just don't know guys, and I'd like your advice. As I write this, i realize i must bring it to God in prayer. But I'd also like insight from my personal messengers from God (is that heretical??)

Footprint Soap Dispenser

I bet you are all wondering about my post title. Or, maybe you all expect that from me and really don't think I'm all that funny any more. But in case you were, I was clicking in the box to write a title, and thats what popped up in the drop down box. Thought it was fruity!

So, I came on yesterday to post, but then read the "Please Pray" post, and lost all my gumph. It was such a painful story, it really made me feel sick. after that, I just couldn't write a chipper little post about my measly life. How do you all reconcile that kind of story into your worldview??

I got out Athanasius today...I don't want to hold everyone up. its in the red/orange book, right? are we starting in the intro?

Diz, sorry, my computer for now is shot. If I get my new one soon, which I hope too, then i'd LOVE to burn them for you!! Then I can bring it up when I visit...which, will now be while you are in school? Actually, we'll probably come through on Saturday the 20th, so it should not be an issue.

Not much else going on here...its getting hotter, i think. thank goodnes for my new caR!! my dad called yesterday and is having an unexpected business trip to LA at the end of July! That will be really fun. He's not staying here b/c of his problems sleeping, but he is staying an extra day to hang out with us. I am a little worried, b/c i've never really spent a ton of time one on one with my dad or even with just matt and my dad and me. So, we'll see. Val, when are you comiing?? I hope we can plan around your visit.

big gulps, huh? welp, see you later!

PS Hi michelle! I needed to say hello to you cuz you are the only one i hadn't mentioned by name yet...so, hi! sorry to hear about all your wedding craziness...i just heard from one of my friends at home that she is engaged...unfortunately, I won't be going to it, but more $$ out the door! = )

Favor?

Ladies,
When I made you all the long DVD/photo things, I was unable to make myself a copy. Is there anyway that one of you could please burn a copy of the disc for me? The program that I had saved on my comp pooped out, so I can't just burn it from there.

Also...I found out that I have to start teaching August 17. Poopy. Should we try to schedule a reunion in October or something? I can check my calendar, see if I have any three day weekends, and I'm sure I could skip one day, too. We could think about doing Thanksgiving together, or something. I know that would be weird, to leave our families to be with friends for Thanksgiving, but it could be a cool tradition if we really plan on being lifelong friends.

"Come on, honey, time to get in the car and visit Mommy's roommates for Thanksgiving."

October would be cool too. I'm just trying to think of a time when we would all be able to leave our homes and stay practical.

Love!

Please pray!

You may remember hearing about Crescent Rainwater, a freshman in Torrey this year who was from Sacramento. Her mom is friends with my sister--they are in a homeschool group together.

Crescent's sister Autumn had been dating a young man, against her parent's wishes. He seemed to be growing a lot, but the family still disapproved. My parents were considered welcoming this young man into our home, as he needed a place to live.

Well, the couple got married this last Thursday. On Friday the young man murdered Autumn. It seems they got in a fight, and he slit her throat with a knife.

Please pray for the Rainwaters, that God covers them in a blanket of his peace that must transcend our understanding! Pray for them as they make funeral arrangements, and face their grief at the tragic loss of their daughter/sister and their reaction to the young man.

Also pray for the friends and family of Autumn and the Rainwaters. The Rainwaters are going to need a sanctuary of God's children to surround them and give them comfort and rest.
---
This is just crazy to hear. Crazy. I am in shock, and am fairly removed from the situation. My sister was hoping to get to mentor and shepherd this young girl; Debbie is also in shock. It's going to be hard when this hits everyone.

Thanks

You miss a day...

And BAM! There's all these posts! wowie!

You are all welcome for the letters...it was just a little teensy weeny way to show you how much i care for you all. last night, i was driving up the 5 at 9:45pm-ish and got to see part of the fireworks. it TOTALLY made me think of you guys and our FAB day it d-land. you want to hear something more pathetic? that same trip, i was stopped at the intersection of beach and la mirada, realizzing that no longer would i continue on straight across beach to go to your apartment. you arent there! and seriously, i started welling up!!! aren't i a sap??? = )

so anyway, i had a day off yesterday and loved it. i did 4 loads of laundry to catch up from the camping stuff. then i took kashelle out to Elephant bar (ahhh, more memories) for her birthday. We had a great time. then i went home and napped, even though i had slept like 10 hrs. then i got up, matt called, and you'll never believe what he had to tell me!

this guy, John, that he's been working for over the past like 9 mnths is super rich, and he had bought these tickets to the A's game, but couldn't make it....so he gave them all to us!! not only that, but they were only 12 rows back from home plate!!!!!!!!!!!! AND, there was free express parking so we basically drove right up to the stadium...AND.......THEY WERE PLAYING THE MARINERS!!! holy smokes. it was amazing. we went, ate hot dogs and nachos, had a waitress to our seats, heard every bat crack, every catch in the mitt, saw their faces, had fly balls come near us. wow, a once in a lifetime experiene (well, i hope its not....matt and i are ADDICTED!). you should have seen Matt's face...he was like a little boy! both of us were overflowing with excitement. and it wouldn't have mattered who won, cuz we could go for both! it happened that the mariners absolutly stomped on the a's, 10 to 2 (7 runs in the first 2 innnings). it was tough not to cheer at all though!!

so, i had that fun fun fun night, then went to kashelle's bday party, ate that good "better than sex" cake again and crashed around 11:30...and here i am at work again! i need some sleep this weekend! i feel like i'm in college again!

has anyone started reading yet, cuz i'm not even close...i really need to finish my marrieage book cuz i can't seem to be reading more than one at a time...how much should i read??

Val: I'm impressed at your self improvement! i'm pretty sure i wouldn't be learning anything in particular if i wasn't working here...way to go! give us tips, will you?? i'm trying to get matt to teach me to shoot too, but we need to go up to washington for it, and borrow a gun b/c his rifle would probably bruise me! oh, and YES! we will DEFINITLY hang out when you get here!! let me know dates and i can try to arrange work around it too!

Dizz: i'm so jealous of the river raftin!! i wanna go! but i probably won't now...um, matt and i haven't decided wheather we are driving straight or not...i'll let you know! for sure we'll catch you on the way down?

Michelle: the pictures were great!! thnaks! i'm very proud of how often you are posting now!

All: Um, i got a video camera we can use sometime. thats exciting. and about august, well, i don't know what to tell you. diz, you'll hvae to figure out a time that you hvae another break??

bleh

I am so bored.

 

I had a dream about ya’ll last night.  I think we were getting ready to say goodbye again.  I don’t really remember it.

 

 

Hey howdy hey

How’s it going there, ladies?

 

Hannah, I thought I already posted about my job?  Didn’t I?  I’m too lazy to check and am sending this via email so anyway, I decided to take the job in Natomas, because it’s so much closer to home.  I’m going out Thursday to sign my contract.  I’ll be teaching tenth and twelfth grade.  Crazy!

 

I went rafting today with the high schoolers.  It was a blast.  I got a decent tan, which is nice. J  We went down this very slow stretch of the American River, where there was one little section of rapids the whole time, so of course the trip turned into a giant water fight.  We had six boats between all of us, junior high and high school, and students would jump off of one boat on to another, try to steal oars, squirt guns, etc.  I was pulled into the water once by one of the interns.  He swam up around the boat quietly and just grabbed.  But I made a daring dash another time to try to save one of our oars from vicious thieving pirates.  I failed.  Miserably.  But it was a fun day, anyway.  I’m really enjoying plugging back in at my church.  I adore those girls, and really like the staff members that I’ve already met.  It’s grand.

 

Hannah, are you blogging from work?  It totally sucks when silly things like spilling happen.  L  Sorry about your nutty day.

 

Brandie and I have only hung out once.  I forget how much she likes to be at home and relax.  You know, I’m so much more social than that, that it’s sometimes frustrating to have such an introverted friend.  But we talked on the phone today, and that was good.  I think she and I need to do some stuff one on one sometime to really reconnect.  We haven’t had that chance yet.  She got a membership to a gym and is going to start working out hardcore.  With a personal trainer and everything.  Sounds exciting.

 

And I’ve finished repainting my room.  Yay!  It’s a taupe/brown color with white trim.  I’m in the process now of putting all back together and making it purdy.

 

Michelle—yay for the restful weekend!  Are you enjoying the few weeks you have to be a slug?  Revel in your slugness.  Enjoy it.  Who knows when you’ll have this chance again!!

 

Hannah—I’m going to be at camp on those dates that you told me.  You can still stay here though!  Make sure you let me know when it gets closer.  And on your way back down you have to stop here and say hey! J

 

ALL—when are we hanging out this August?  I start teaching the 22^nd.  I may have some stuff a few days before that; I’m not sure.  I guess that makes all the stuff we’d talked about maybe at the end of August impossible now.  Sorry. L

 

Much love from Sac-town!

D

A clarifying note...

After perusing through Michelle's comment, i feel as if my camping trip was a bit more 'camping' now. I hardly consider watching TV on the big screen and golf courses camping! And no AC!? Tears, my dear, tears. = ) try not have a bed!! i actually found a bruise on my hip from laying on my side!!!

So, I feel a bit more caught up now. i went to bed at 8:30, which felt great. Matt crashed at like 7 and was still sound asleep when i left at 5! wish i could do that.

i had a terrible morning today. i got in my car, started driving, and realized my coffee creamer had spilled in my lunch and was all over my leather seats!! i moved it to see how much, and then got it on my pants...i had nothing to clean up my spill with, so i ended up turning around and going home. i changed my entire outfit and grabbed some paper towels. i cleaned it up and was ready to go when i moved my sweatshirt and knocked it over AGAIN!!! i was livid at myself. i cleaned it up and headed out, though my car now smells like hazelnut creamer. to top it all off, i got to the freeway 15 later and you would be amazed at what happens in that amt of time-- instead of breazing all the way there, i got stuck in traffic. great. just what i needed when i was all ready late. i thought i'd blow a fuse or something. but i controlled myself and made it only a few minutes late (but not in trouble).

So- Danielle, Val...how come MIchelle and i are outpositng you both? You are both the ones we are waiting to here from regarding jobs, so come on! Michelle, that weekend sounded quiet dreamy. we'll have to try it again sometime. the "cabin" sounded a lot like pete's house that we honeymooned in-- a luxery house, etc. How did the Donna date go? she knocked my socks off when she told me yesterday. i was supposed to hang out, but she made a date with him b/c i hadn't called back, and i was working anyway. But, what's he like???

War of the Worlds: Didn't love it. Very disturbing. Good grafics, very suspensful, kept my interest overall. The ending will, um, shock you in some ways, i'd say. I watched it with matt, k, and jeff and for the first 5 minutes, we didn't even know waht happened! just be warned-- the big screen might overwhelm you, shell...i might recommend waiting to rent?? its up to you...sorry danielle, val...guess i think you are hardened enough to handle it. = )

k, this is once again draggin' on. i migth post later if i'm bored!

Welcome home me!

Hello all...

I hope you all noticed my sizeable absence from the blogs. I really didn't mean to leave you off so abruptly. I went camping all weekend with Kashelle, Jeff, Kashelle's sister Kaylyn and her friend Libby. We were subsequently joined by Kashelle's brother Kerrick and other people that made guest appearances. It was SUCH a blast!!! i have to admit, it was a bit more of a vacation than a camping trip...( you can skim, if you get bored)

We left early early Saturday morning and drove up to Mt. Tehachapi, about 2 - 2 1/2 hrs away, by Bakersfield. We got there, set up camp on a VERY empty mountain and had lunch. We napped and hiked and hung out way up top with this beautful view of the valley. After returning, we bbq'ed chicken and went down the mountain to go hot-tubbing. = ) We came back after that and made s'mores and told "Fairy Stories" instead of scary stories till midnight or so.

I got up at 6 cuz the ground was SO hard. Matt, who got up a 5!, and i drove into town to get coffee and, uh, utilize the facilities (we peed outside the entire trip!). we came back, made this amazing breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs and cheese, and bacon. then we drove into bakersfield to her brother's house and went swimming most the afternoon. it was SOOOO- OOOO hot out there. we went back up for steak and baked potatoes and more hanging out.

Monday, we slept in, made another amazing breakfast with the leftovers (Matt is an amazing cook!!), hung out, cleaned up camp, went to Kashelle's parents house in Tehachapi and showered...ahhh...then went to Sonic for lunch and Jeff, Kashelle, Matt and I went to see "War of the Worlds" I'll post comments on THAT flick later! We went back to the house, played cards and then had the dinner her dad prepared for us (mmmmmm!) and went to watch fireworks. It was SO much fun. Sadly, we got caught in traffic for a brush fire near the freeway, AND an accident on the detour!! I couldn't believe it! I tried to sleep, but it was touch and go. we arrived back at midnight, crawled into the SOFTEST bed i have ever felt and slept soundly till 4:20 am, at which point i woke up to come to work, where i sit now.

that is my life so far. i'll shut up, cuz its too long all ready!

I need your help!

Ladies,

I’m going to be starting a small discussion group with the interested ladies at my church (at least, I’m hoping to.  What fun!).  These girls are ready for some hardcore intellectual discussions, but I’m not sure that they’ll be quite ready to plow through Athanasius or Calvin’s Institutes quite yet.  Do you know of any excellent books that present various Christian controversies/hard issues that we could go through?  Any tips would be great. J  I want something either simple in wording or fun to read—like Chesterton.

 

Anyway bumpkins, much love from this side of the world.

 

Michelle, sounds like this weekend will be fantabulous for you.  Let us know how it goes!  The John Piper book you’re reading sounds cool, too.  I love it when people use great Christian thinkers!

 

Hugs!