Am I There, Yet?

Have a fantastic week…I’ll update when we get back…

Today is my husband’s birthday.  We started our celebration last night when he got home.  The kids and I decorated the house with streamers, balloons and signs and made him open his gifts last night.  I’m making a chocolate cake for him right now and making him BBQ his own birthday dinner.  LOL!!!

He’s actually a little bummed right now.  He just got a call from a friend who offered us tickets to go see the Yankee game tomorrow.  We would love, love, love, love, love to go…but, here’s the kicker.  He’s preaching this weekend and wouldn’t have time to get back in town for our Saturday night service.  I told him that any other normal person would call in sick…but, he’s pretty committed to his commitments.  Poor guy!  So, the question is…should I abandon him on his birthday weekend and go to the Yankee game?  He’d be sooooooo jealous!  LOL!!!  Oh well…he did get to a Phillies game last week…but, that doesn’t make him feel any better.

Happy Birthday, Josh!!!  I love you!  Thanks for sharing your life with me and being a wonderful father to our children and husband to yours truly. 

I haven’t picked up the accent:

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you’re a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The South
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Everybody keeps asking about our house in Oregon.  Yes…it’s still for sale and yes…please keep praying!  This is about the most frustrating thing to need something so bad and yet have it be completely out of our control.  It’s been on the market (and empty) for 9 and 1/2 months.  We’ve reduced the price probably a hundred times (slight exaggeration…just slight.)  If I would’ve known it would’ve taken this long I would’ve put a renter in it from the beginning.  I’m so frustrated…to put it lightly.  This is ridiculous.

So, if you think about it, could you please say a prayer for our house to sell?  And…if you know anybody who is moving to Central Oregon and is looking for a house to rent or buy…please contact us.  We’re completely open to creative options.  Thanks!!!

O.K.  I have to apologize for my last two obscure posts.  One of my good friends came out to visit me last week and we had a blast.  We did a ton of things and I’m now at home crashing from my week.

The first post (May 7) is a picture of the Urban S’Mores from Max Brenner’s.  We went there for dinner after a day of tromping through Manhattan.  Actually, truth be told, we went there for dessert, but the dinner was really good for a restaurant that specializes in chocolate.  This place was truly amazing and I recommend it to anybody planning a trip to the city.  You’ll have to check out their website…It’s yummy!!!!

The second post (May 10) is of pictures showing the geo-caches we found.  My friends introduced me to geo-caching back in Oregon.  It’s not something I’ve done on my own, but after this past week I may have to go get a GPS.  It’s a lot of fun.  What is geo-caching?  It’s basically a world wide “treasure hunt” where people use a GPS device to locate a cache placed in an obscure location by another cacher.  Treasure hunt isn’t really an accurate term because it’s not like you’re hunting for gold or valuable items, but it’s the word I use to get my kids excited about it when they’re with us.  The caches are typically small weatherproof containers with logs for those who find the cache to sign.  Some caches contain items such as small trinkets or toys and the person who discovers the cache is invited to take something and leave something in return.  Some of the trinkets are called travel bugs.  For example, my friend found an item that has traveled around the world and it’s being tracked and logged by those who find it in one location and place it in another location.  The goal is to see how long it takes to get to a specific location.  Other caches are found in stages…the first location is logged on the website and contains a clue, or puzzle to solve, which takes you to the next location.  Geo-caching is a great way to see parts of the country you probably would never normally see.  There are caches that are left deep in the woods and then there are urban caches.  We spent most of our time on the urban caches…but we went to places in the city we probably never would’ve seen.  We got to see a piece of the Berlin wall in New York City.  We had a chance to wander through some of Philly’s historical district.  Did I mention that it was a lot of fun?

We did more than geo-cache.  We went to Bodies…The Exhibition.  We saw Wicked on Broadway.  We spent some time in Battery Park, Union Square, Times Square, Central Park, Liberty State Park, Independence National Historical Park, etc…  We went on a mini gourmet chocolate tour in Manhattan and ate some of the best chocolate I’ve ever tasted.  We went to Junior’s and tried the world’s best cheesecake. 

You can see why I’m tired.

I wanted to share some pictures with some friends…so here they are:

Deb in front of the Bell of Hope at St. Paul’s Chapel.  The World Trade Center site is in the background.

Deb in front of Alexander Hamilton’s gravesite at Trinity Church.

Me at the Trinity Church graveyard.

Both of us with the Statue of Liberty (yes…she’s waaaaay behind us) from Battery Park in New York.

A Dark Chocolate Champagne Truffle from Christopher Norman Chocolates.

…and it’s gone…but, it was fabulous!

We went to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch one day and I got my picture taken with Janis Joplin’s pants…LOL!!!

Deb in Times Square…

…and goofing off in the M & Ms store.

The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

Independence Hall.

In front of Alexander Hamilton’s former residence in Philly.

Me, Deb and The Statue of Liberty from Liberty State Park in Jersey.

My kids checking out the views.

My kids goofing off in Liberty State Park with the Manhattan skyline behind them.

So…that’s what we did last week. 

#261 — Greenwich Village (New York City)

#262 — Greenwich Village (New York City)

#263 — Mercer County Park (New Jersey)

#264 — Mercer County Park (New Jersey)

#265 — Manhattan (by a piece of the Berlin Wall)

#266 — Central Park (New York City)

#267 — Central Park (New York City)

#268 — Philadelphia

#269 — Tun Tavern (Philadelphia)

#270 — Liberty State Park (New Jersey)

#271 — Liberty State Park (New Jersey)

Have I mentioned that I love springtime?  Have I told you about the woods outside my house?  They’re amazing!  I saw my red cardinal again today.  He’s gorgeous!  I tried to get a picture, but he didn’t hang around long enough to pose for me.  I have a daily blue jay visitor.  He was ticked off one day and started squawking at me because he was too big to access my bird feeder.  So I put some extra wild bird food out in a bowl on my porch.  Now he comes by daily and knocks the bowl off the table after he picks out all the dried fruit…it’s his way of communicating with me that he wants more.  He’s such a brat…but fun to interact with.  Some amazing birds stop by to eat…I see a new species every day.  Yellow birds.  Brown birds with bright orange beaks.  Black and white birds.  Blue birds.  Sparrows, chickadees, finches, you name it.  I haven’t seen the wild turkeys since winter, but this morning I watched a heron hanging out in the creek for a long time.

I’ve become quite the birdwatcher lately.  I may have to do some internet research to figure out what types of birds I’m actually seeing and how many species I can find in my backyard.  I love having my windows open during the day and listen to them serenade each other.  I also have a great place to hang out in the morning to find some peace and quiet…I love to hang out on my back porch, drink a cup of coffee, read my Bible and soak in the nature around me.  How lucky am I?

Have any of you seen Planet Earth on Discovery Channel?  It’s extraordinary…an astonishing reminder that we’re all connected and that everything has a purpose for its existence.

“The Heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

Psalm 19:1-4a

Oh…I almost forgot!  I wanted to show a new picture of my backyard…but, first I have to show you what it looked like a few weeks ago:

(Before…taken right after the Nor’Easter blew through…flooding the creek)

(After)

See…change can be a fabulous thing!