A song that just came to mind...

John Piper

Keira's first snowman

Isn't this just the cutest?!

Visit with Courtney

A family in our church is moving to Illinois next week. This after noon a friend and I went over to help them prepare. They were done loading the truck when we got there (good timing, huh?) so we just helped clean house for a while. Just did pretty basic things - finished cleaning the bathroom (Michelle had already started it) dusted, swept floors. I knew my friend Courtney was in town so I contacted her and ask if we could meet up for super or something. She said we could! We went to Arby's to eat and visit for a bit. The bad part was that Kaylynn and I waited inside for fifteen minutes and Courtney and Ava waited in the parking lot for 10! Ugh! Wasted time. Oh well. We had a good visit. So thankful to see her even if it was a short time. It had been three months! What a wonderful gift from God her friendship has been!

Though there have been many important things to post about over the last few months and I haven't, I am going to post a completely pointless story that just so happens to be funny.

Some good friends of ours brought their truck over today so we could move some of Grandma and Grandpa's furniture to the barn. We loaded it up, drove it down, unloaded it and headed back up to the house. Beckisue decided to ride on the tailgate so I did too. On the way across the yard, we were going all of  5 mph. Beckisue decided she should jump off the back and fall in the yard. I told her she should (you see she is a very bad influence on me). She fell on the ground and after about twenty feet I yelled "Hey!" Mr. Foster stopped the car so fast and jumped out I had to tell him immediately. I was laughing too hard to keep it anyway. We about scared him to death! 

I told him later that if we would have tried that when we were kids we would have gotten spanked. He told me we deserved to be spanked! He told Beckisue later that he missed his perfect opportunity. He should have jumped out of the truck, grabbed is heart, and fallen on the ground. He has some heart issues so he could have gotten us right back. He said not to worry, he will get us back. 

Gianna Jessen

Here are a couple of videos that I watched in awe. I don't really have anything more to say about them. Just watch.

Oh! Just a side note - The name Gianna means God is Gracious!

Trip to Illinois

Last Thursday my mom, Stephanie, Amanda, Monica and I got to go to Illinois after trying to get down there all summer. Every time we tried there was always something else going on.  We had a blast. I love getting to visit with my family! This was the first time we got to see Erin's baby and she is already six months old! This isn't the greatest of posts. I was having issues loading the pictures. They are in no particular order. I didn't even load all the pictures I wanted to. But at least it is a start! It is a post with pictures! 

Amanda, Erin, me, Stephanie, Monica, Joselyn, Brandy and Troy (who didn't want to be in the picture!)

Erin and Me

Steph, Erin and her baby Joselyn

Mom, Me, Aunt Sue and Stephanie

Me and Stephanie

Grandpa, Stephanie, and Norma

Stephanie and me

Mom and Joselyn

A post about nothing!

Yes, for those of you who are wondering, I am still alive. Not that anyone actually reads this blog that doesn't talk to me way more often that I post! I definitely haven't posted for lack of things to post about. This summer - and year for that matter - has been one adventure after an other. California, Boston, South Bend, Michigan, Colorado, and Leesburg. Those are just the places, the activities in those places would take much story telling! I probably will not get around to catching up on all those things. Maybe I will actually finish the second half to the last post though! That would at least be good!

Boston Adventure Part 1 (pre Boston part)

On June 28th my Mom, Beckisue, Jonathan, Amanda, Stephanie and I started out on an adventure. Of course, I guess if you stop and think about it everything is an adventure. At least it seems that way to me. So maybe I should say we started out on a *big* adventure!

Our destination was Boston to attend the Reformation 500 hosted by Vision Forum. But I will start with the beginning (a very good place to start, don't you know?!) before we get to the main event.

We took off after church. We planned to stay the night with some new friends of ours in north eastern Ohio. With just a short (hour long) delay when someone missed a road sign (I won't name names) we made it around 8 PM.

We had a wonderful visit with the Ferrar family! Mrs. Ferrar served us a *wonderful* italian dinner. When then stayed up very late talking and laughing about a multitude of subjects. Christian friendship is such a sweet gift from God.

Monday we pretty much did more of the same. Mrs. Ferrar, Beckisue, Mom and I went and did a little shopping. When we came home the girls were all dancing in the back yard so I joined them. That was so much fun. I am sure the neighbors thought we were all crazy! Eight girls doing English Country dances in the back yard - what a sight!

Late afternoon brought the time to say good-bye. I don't like saying good-bye, but when you have to say good bye to get on to the next stop on your adventure it isn't quite as bad.

Monday evening we drove about an hour to visit some other friends. An other fun evening and delicious italian meal. After dinner we went for a walk through some beautiful woods. We then watched Pendragon. I had been wanting to watch that for quite a while.

I guess I am going to have to start cutting out some details or no one is actually going to read the whole thing!

Tuesday morning rolled around (all too early I might add since we stayed up WAY too late the two nights before!) and it was time to start out on an other day of travel.

It was raining when we left and rained for the first leg of the trip. The rain was so bad that part of the interstate was flooded and was down to one lane.

Our next destination was Niagara Falls. On the way we got to see Lake Erie. My younger brother and sisters and I had never seen it before. One more thing to mark on my mental list of places I have seen. Niagara was beautiful even if the sun wasn't shining. I was a little disappointed about the no sun part but I was still thankful for the opportunity to see it. I had always been told about the mist at the falls. No joke! At one point I thought for sure it was rain but my siblings insisted it was just water from the falls. Which ever way it was we got SOAKED and it was really cold! We had planned to try to go across to Canada but I guess they just changed it to where you have to have a passport now. I was disappointed! Being that close and not being about to be there! I can at least say I have *seen* Canada!

So off we were again. We decided to take the scenic highway instead of the quicker route so we could see Lake Ontario. It took us a LOT longer but it was *SO* worth it. The sun came out soon after we left the falls and the drive was beautiful. I was driving now so I couldn't look around as much but I still enjoyed the drive tremendously! I have decided that New York state is one of the prettiest places I have been - and I have been a lot of places. We stopped at a little ice cream shop not far from the lake. The ice cream there was super good! We kept driving and saw a sign for a lighthouse and decided to stop. My family NEVER travels like this. We always get in the car and just drive until we get there. This stopping and seeing things stuff is definitely new! Where the lighthouse was was a state park. It was so beautiful. I am totally running out of adjectives! I keep using the same ones over and over. I guess I need to expand my vocabulary. Anyway, back to the story. There was a small pier that we walked out on and took pictures. The Lord gave us the most glorious day. We got to tour the light house. We climbed to the top and looked over the lake. It was so beautiful it made me want to start spouting Psalms. The heavens declare...

Unfortunately our time there was VERY limited and we had to get back on the road. We still had many hours to drive that day. The time was quickly passing. Our next stop was our hotel in New Hampshire. I forgot to mention earlier on that New York was a new state to Jonathan, Amanda, Stephanie and me. Then we drove through Vermont and that was also the first time we had been there. Then New Hampshire. A day full of first! Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Niagara Falls, New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire!

I think I will end there for now. Wednesday starts the conference. This post will get so long no one will ever read it if I don't split it up!

A pretty tree

Here is a picture of a tree! :) I love these trees and they are all over out here. I don't know what they are but they are so pretty! I can't figure out how to rotate it. It will rotate on the computer but when I upload it it goes back to the original. I guess everyone will just have to turn their heads sideways. Or pretend that the trees grow sideways out here.

Paul Washer

"I guess I call my self a five point Spurgeonist." -- Paul Washer. Gotta love it!

Meeting a Cousin

My dad has a cousin that lives about an hour from where I am living. When I found out I was coming out here we decided we wanted to meet. I have heard of her all my life but had never gotten to meet her. We discussed different options of when and where to get together. It ended up being the best for me to drive over to a ladies banquet her church was hosting. 

I drove over yesterday morning. That was the farthest east I had ever been in California. It was a beautiful drive even if the sun wasn't shining. I would love to have been able to look at more things but when you are driving it is kind of important to keep your eyes on the road. :)

The banquet was very nice. After the banquet I went home with Gay (my dad's cousin). I got to meet her husband and son. We had a grand time just chatting and getting to know each other. I spent the whole afternoon there and didn't head home until about 5. We hope to get together again sometime while I am out here.

The Quarterly Gathering

Last year I wrote a post about Resurrection Sunday and I called it a "Mountain Top Day." Here is a story of an other such day.

The last Sunday of April was the Quarterly Gathering for the Southern California Association of Reformed Baptist Churches. The church I have been attending hosted the gathering. They have been talking about it and looking forward to it ever since I first got out here. I really looked forward to it. There were about 10 churches involved. All the churches get together quarterly (hence the name) and have a Sunday evening service together.

The day before several member of the church got together and helped prepare. The ladies prepared food and did various other things. Pastor Curley worked non-stop (as always) getting all kinds of other stuff prepared. That kind of thing is always fun. It provides a wonderful time to visit with friends while getting something accomplished. We laughed and carried on and had a good ol' time. 

Sunday morning we had service as normal.  After lunch there was more work to be done. One of the ladies in the church, Christina, (who I think is an absolute doll!) and I filled the salt and pepper shakers. Christina got to laughing so hard that she had tears running down her face. Here we are working with black pepper, and making a mess of things, and it isn't bothering us at all. While across the kitchen the pastors sister can't stop sneezing. It was a riot!

I went home to fix Dorothy her lunch and take a quick nap in the middle of the afternoon. Rob and Chrissy were coming up for the gathering and so we were going to go out before the service started. They didn't get to come as early as they wanted to but we were very thankful for the time that they did get to spend.

I guess I am getting a little ahead of my story...

When I went back to the church I helped the ladies make sandwiches until Rob and Chrissy got there. I went with them and we drove up the road a little ways to a Cold Stone. I don't think I had ever been to one before. They had pistachio ice cream! I LOVE pistachio! It was fabulous. I had pecans mixed in.

We all got our ice cream and went and sat on a park bench and ate and chatted. In all the time I have been out here this was only the second time we have gotten together. Life is just too busy.

The meeting started at 5. It was fabulous. Pastor Curley said he thinks there were about 300 people there. It was wonderful to sing with that many voices. One of the hymns we sang was And Can It Be. That is one of my all time favorite hymns.

A pastor named Robert Elliott preached. His sermon was from Isaiah 40: 28-31. It was a FABULOUS sermon about our weakness and our great and powerful God.

After the service there was a HUGE dinner. I don't think I have ever seen so much food in one place! It was a nice time to get to meet people and visit with those you know. I didn't hardly know anyone. I only knew the people from my church here and Rob and Chrissy. I talked to several people though. As everyone knows I am not very shy.

All in all it was a fabulous day. 

Locked In

Here is a letter I wrote to Bethany about a month ago. I have been meaning to post it and I just never made it priority. I have a LOT of posting to catch up on.

I guess now is as good of a time to write as any. I am locked in my bedroom and I haven’t the foggiest idea how to get out. I was ironing some fabric that I was getting ready to cut. Dorothy’s ironing board is on the back of the bedroom door. I pushed the door all the way closed not realizing that the door knob was coming off. When I went to twist the knob it twisted but didn’t grab anything. So her I am. I can’t yell for Dorothy because she would never hear me. I can’t climb out a window because  there are bars on all of them. I just have to figure out how to open the door.

The bars on one of the windows are on hinges and has a padlock. I guess I will just have to go through everything until I find that key.I am hoping when Dorothy gets hungry she will realize I am missing. The problem is that will be at least an hour . Maybe a lot longer than that, you don’t know with her.

Are you laughing yet? If you are reading this letter it means I found my way out. J

The bright side is it gave me (or made me) the chance to get my room all straightened up. There is always a bright side to everything!

Here I have filled a whole card and only told you one thing! And the drama has just begun. I have yet to tell you how I got out. I guess I should go see if I can figure that part out…

Guess what?! I stopped writing, opened a drawer, saw a box, opened it up, and guess what was inside? Keys! Too bad none of them worked for the padlock. I then found a box wih a wallet inside. Guess what was in that? Yep! A key. Too bad it was a house key. On to the closet. I found a bucket of pennies with some keys on top. Guess what? An other house key and a garage key. I did find some pictures of the three oldest Portukalian boys when they were little. J

A bag – an other key. But I bet you can’t guess this time. ;) It doesn’t work. What is it with this lady and keys? A box with a key chain, (none of which work of course) and $16.50 in silver dollars and half dollars. One of them was dated 1882. How do you like my inventory?

OK, Bethany, the adventure has worn off and I am getting bored and hungry. I could hear my cell phone ringing but I couldn’t get to it. I have gone through all the drawers and tried to figure out how to take the hinges off,  but they have been painted over too many times. I fed a long incense thing down behind the latch and put the curved end of a Bobbie pin  in to pull the end out so I could make a loop; I was trying to be able to pull the latch but that plan didn’t work. I guess I am not a a very good McGyver.

I think I might have a soluion! I hear a lawn mower and weed eater. It is the guy mowing our yard. If I can get their attention I can tell them to ring the door bell and tell Dorothy what is going on!

So that idea didn’t work either. The men never came into view of my window. I finally just diceded to take a nap.

I woke up and tried the incense thing again. Guess what?! This time it worked I pushed in on the door while pulling on the incense stick and it popped open. All in all I think it was about two and a half hours. When I went out to see Dorothy she hadn’t missed me!

 

Doug Phillips

The Farmers Market

I haven't been posting much lately. I guess it is about time that I did something about that. There really hasn't been much of excitement to write about. I have been busy but not with much that would be of interest to read.

I went to the farmers market this evening. I have been several times before. I think I enjoy it more each time I go. When I walk through the streets I can't help but smile to myself. It is like a little festival. I can't believe they have something like that every week. There are families that bring their blankets to lay out on the ground and have a picnic. There are people playing music at different places through the street. Today there was a fiddle player and a guitar player. That was kind of fun to hear. The last few weeks there has been a couple playing and singing Mexican music. There is usually a guy sitting on a bar stool with a microphone and a guitar.

The vendors are varied and plenteous. They aren't all what you would expect from a "farmers market." There are many produce vendors but but there are just as many vendors of other sorts. Picture a festival in a midwestern town and that is what you have. There is roasted corn on the cob, various sandwiches, grilled everything, popcorn, etc. Tonight I decided to get some Peruvian food for supper. I ordered a chicken sandwich and some chicken, rice and vegetables. I got it home and found out that they forgot to give me the sandwich. I was kind of upset. It was too late to go back and do anything about it. I guess such goes life...

I did get strawberries, tangerines, tomatoes, persian cucumbers, and bell peppers. Yum! I always look forward to the farmers market even if the traffic and parking to get there is not so much fun!

There are also several flower vendors. The sell some of the most beautiful flowers and bouquets. There are many colors and varieties of flowers. They would be beautiful at a summer wedding!

Day at the Beach

This picture is NOT going to go where it is supposed to so it is just going to stay up here at the top!

Saturday I went to the beach with the pastors family from the church I have been attending out here. Their tradition is to go to the beach the week of their daughters birthday every year. Being the last week of March it is pretty cool but not too bad. When we got there it was nice and warm (not the water though!) but it cooled off through out the day. We had a wonderful time. We had lunch and supper there so we were there for several hours. It snapped a few pictures with my phone. I didn't know how well they would turn out but I was pleased. I couldn't really see what I was taking a picture of very well because of the sunlight on the screen. I don't have much time for posting right now but it has been so long I figured I had better get a few pictures up. Here they are...

Joseph with his seaweed. He collected that stuff all day!

Beautiful Sunset

I think this is my favorite of the pictures. Those two dark spots are Joseph's piles of seaweed.

The fire and the top of Hannah's head. It really was a lot colder than the pictures make it look!

My dirty feet

Pastor Curley very relaxed!

Maybe, just maybe, I will actually get some pictures on here now. Maybe...

California is...

... a totally different world! I went out for a walk through the neighborhood for the first time this morning. It was SO beautiful. The temperature was just right and the sun was shining so brightly. The neighborhood where I am living is quite nice. Almost all of the houses out here are stucco. The homes are so beautiful. I wish I was good at describing things so I could tell you about it, or if I had a camera here I would just take pictures. But since neither is the case you will just have to take my word for it that is beautiful. If you go straight back from my house the hill is pretty steep so  the houses kind of look like stair steps. All the homes have a Spanish flair to them.  They have beautiful arch ways and colorful tiles. I saw a light (almost white) house this morning with pink trim. Most of the time I would gag at the very thought of pink trim on a house, but this house was so beautiful! The architecture is totally different out here - and I mean TOTALLY.

I saw several lemon trees while I was out this morning. There are citrus trees all over the place out here and no one does anything with the fruit. There is a loaded lemon tree straight across the street from my house. Chrissy told me I should just go over and ask if I could have a few of them. I am trying to get up the nerve to do that. I will probably get brave enough about the time the lemons are all dried up and ready to fall off the tree. 

Anyone want to come visit me while I am out here and go exploring???

An Other Day

There really isn't much new to report today. I woke up to rain this morning. It sure does rain a lot here for being "Sunny California." I don't really mind the rain though. I have always kind of liked rain. They really need the rain out here so I am not complaining. Though, the locals are complaining. Doesn't make any sense to me. They are warning about running out of water and then they whine and complain when it rains. Pathetic.

When I left the library I decided to go to Barnes and Noble. My GPS said it was about 4 miles away. No problem. I start following the directions. It was acting SO strange. It told me "prepare to arrive at destination in 500 yards" (or what ever distance it said) but I wasn't even on the right street and I knew it. Then it said arriving at destination. I start looking around. If there is a Barnes and Noble I should be able to see it right??? They don't usually stick those in the middle of houses! I was in a residential area. I keep driving down that street (which was NOT Colorado Blvd. like the GPS kept telling me) and pretty soon I come to a sign that says "Welcome to Los Angelous." Now I am thinking "This isn't where I wanted to be!" I drove a little bit farther until I
found a good place to turn around. Then when I went back by the same area it told me AGAIN that I was at my destination! That thing is crazy. It tells me how far before I need to turn at the top of my screen. Yesterday I would be stopped at a red light and look at it and the distance before my next turn would keep counting down... .4, .3, .2, .1, "turn left now" Mean while I am still sitting at the same red light and haven't moved so much as a foot let alone .4 of a mile! I finally just found a place to park so I could look at it and figure out what was wrong. I think it wasn't getting a good enough signal. When I started holding it up instead of having it lying in my lap, it started working. I did find Barnes and Noble but I didn't go in. It was just a little shop. The parking was pretty much non existant so at that point I decided it was just time to go home. GPSs are wonderful when they work! At least it was a nice day for a drive and I got to explore some more of the area!

It has been so long since I have written a post I don't really even know where to begin! Tomorrow will be three weeks since I landed at LAX. Sometimes I can't believe it has already been three weeks and sometimes I can TOTALY believe that it has been three whole long weeks. I am finally getting into a sort of rhythm of things. I have finally gotten used to the fact that in the evening when I am watching TV Dorothy sleeps. When I go to bed she wakes up and turns the TV on VERY loudly. :) It isn't nearly as bad as it was at first. She keeps it down a little lower and I have learned to sleep through it. It was bad the first little bit when she kept turning the TV on at 1 or 2 in the morning! Yikes!
Dorothy is a sweet lady. She is so easy to please. She likes to eat just about anything, and since getting her meals is pretty much my main responsibility it is very easy!
A friend of mine has talked about a friend of hers that lives out here. When I came out to visit Rob and Chrissy a couple of years ago I wanted to get a chance to meet her but she lived too far away. When I got out here I kept thinking I should get in contact with her and find out where she lives because I couldn't remember. Sunday I was talking to my friend and she told me I should meet this girl while I was out here. She told me the name of the town where she lives. I couldn't believe it. She lives in the next town north from here. It is less than ten minutes away. Of course, out here there is no devision between one town and the next. When I talked to this girl this morning (I guess if I gave her name it would be easier to follow, it is Maryrose) she said she lives right on the border of the town where I live! Craziness! My parents and I were really hoping I would meet a girl while I was out here that I could do some things with. I have already become friends with the pastors family at the church I have been going to. They are a very sweet family and I have enjoyed getting to know them.
Dorothy has been telling me over and over and OVER again to make sure I see everything I can while I am out here. I hope to but I really hate to go a lot of places by myself. Local things I will do but I am not adventurous enough or maybe I should say stupid enough to go touring LA by my self. :) We will see what works out.

Until next time,

I am still here...

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I didn't think that the library computers would let me on because I tried my first day here and it didnt' come up. Now it is working so I guess I can start posting again.
I won't take the time now to post much. I will try to catch up tomorrow or some other time. I am getting settled in. Everything is going pretty smoothly. I am still missing everyone at home, of course!

My First Sunday in California

I missed posting yesterday. It was quite a busy morning. The nurse came and a physical therapist. It was so funny because I found out that the PT was from Kokomo, IN. That is SO close to where I live. She said she had cousins in Logansport. It is a small world. I never cease to be amazed at that.

Rob and Chrissy drove up to go to church with me this morning. We went to a church not too far from here that Rob has preached in several times. It was a Reformed Baptist Church. The service was really good. The sermon was really good. But the whole service was SO different than I am used to. There was nothing wrong with it. It will just take some getting used to if I keep going there. I really liked the pastor and his wife. They were very friendly. It is nice to know someone in the area now. The pastor gave me his number and kept telling me if I needed anything to just call. He said if I got lost just to call him. That was really nice to hear. One of my biggest fears out here is getting lost and not knowing anyone to help me. He reminded me (like I needed reminding) :) that there are places out here that you DON'T want to get lost in.

Rob and Chrissy came back to the house with me after the service. We visited for a while before they had to head back to their church for the evening service. It was nice to get to see them. I hope to see them a few more times while I am out here. We will see how it all works out.

Day Three

Just a quick over view of today. I am far too tired to tell too much about the day. I am not even close to being on California time yet. My body is telling me it is almost 1 in the morning.

Joanna and I cleaned the kitchen and both bathrooms today. They really needed cleaning! We used a lot of cleaners and a whole bunch of paper towels! Everything looks a whole lot better!

The nurse came today to get her set up with home care. She has to come do the evaluation for the physical therapist, occupational therapist, bath aid, and nurse to come in. She was very nice and so helpful. She helped us set up her medication. It was in such a mess. We couldn't figure out the paperwork that the people at the hospital had given us. We were very thankful for the help.

Tonight a friend of the Portukalians came to visit. He is Armenian and was raised in Lebanon. I really enjoyed his visit. He was very interesting, and very funny! I always enjoy hearing about other cultures.

Arriving in California

I have been so busy getting ready for my new adventure I haven't been able to post about what my new adventure is! A few weeks ago a friend of ours called and said he needed someone to take care of his aunt in California when she got out of the hospital. He was asking if one of my older sisters could do it. They obviously couldn't because of their work. I kind of off handedly said I would do it if it was only for two or three months. Careful what you say - you might have to stand by it. I will skip all the details of how things worked out, but here I am, sitting in California! I left Wednesday. I will just kind of skip over having to say goodbye to everyone. That was not easy on any of us. I did do better than I expected though.

We had to get up FAR too early in the morning to head to the airport. Dad and Mom drove me down. We got there later than we should have been but thankfully the airport wasn't crowded and I made it through in plenty of time. Security in the airport is insane. I hadn't been through our new airport yet. Crazy!

The weather was kind of stormy so the ride was pretty bumpy. Thankfully turbulence doesn't really bother me. There were no big drops just a lot of bouncing. I wanted so badly to be able to sleep on the flight but unfortunately, even with a row all to my self, I did get much sleep. I landed in Denver for my layover about 8:00 local time. I was there for about two and a half hours. One more airport I can add to my list. :)

We flew over the Rocky Mountains as soon as we left the airport. They were SO pretty. Thankfully I slept more on that flight so I didn't get to see much of the scenery. I again had a row to my self so I got to have plenty of room to stretch out. That makes flying much more enjoyable. 

When I landed I met up with Bro. Jim (the nephew of the lady I am going to be living with) and his daughter Joanna. They landed just a little while before I did. Some friends of theirs picked us up from the airport. We went back to the house where I will be living and dropped off our luggage. We had an appointment in the afternoon at the hospital so I could be shown how to work with (I guess it is about time I mention her name) Dorothy. I pretty much knew it all already from working with Fran. It never hurts to refresh stuff though.

From the hospital we went to a taco place to eat supper. Bro. Jim said he has been eating at that taco stand for over twenty years. They had really good tacos! They were a lot different than what I would consider "normal" tacos. 

Then it was off for grocery shopping. First we went to Cosco. I have never been shopping like that before. It was kind of strange. Most of the time when you go grocery shopping you pick up what ever you are out of. Here we had to start from scratch. We got tons of stuff. After we came home and dropped all that stuff off went to Trader Joe's to do some more shopping.

When we finally made it home for the evening, Joanna and I decided to clean the refrigerator before we put things away. That way we didn't have to take everything back out the next morning. 

By the time we got done with everything it was 10:30 here. That means I had been up for over 20 hours. I was SOO tired. Thankfully I got to sleep for a long time!

We did some cleaning and sorting here at the house this morning before we went to get Aunt Dorothy from the hospital. We went to lunch when we left the hospital.

This afternoon we did more sorting and cleaning. Her house has a whole lot less paper sticks now. Did anyone no paper shredders can be really fun? ;) Joanna and I had tons of fun feeding all those papers through that thing.

This evening I am here with Aunt Dorothy alone. Bro. Jim and Joanna went to visit some friends. Here is my first taste of what it is going to be like here. I had better get a bunch of books to read or this is going to be a very long three months. I am sure I will get used to it. It will just take some time.

I will keep everyone posted as to how everything is going. There is a good side to this and a bad side. I am sure I will be posting more often - but I have a feeling it probably won't be very interesting to anyone. :)

Adventure in Holland (MI that is)

Now that almost a week has gone by I figured I should finally get around to writing a post about my adventure.
Last Wednesday my parents and I set out on a 150 mile trip across terribly snowy roads. Well... I can say that the entire 15o miles was snowy. The first half was pretty bad but after we got into MI the roads cleared up. Now what are the odds on that one???
I guess I should get around to explaining the point of the trip. My dear friend Bethany and I had been scheming for a while trying to figure out how to get together. We finally worked it out. We were going to meet half way between her house and my house and spend a while together.
We met at Perkins restaurant for lunch. We all enjoyed our dinner and laughed and talked. Dad said you could tell who was doing the talking because I was the last one eating. :)
When we were done Bethany and I decided to walk back to the row of stores that were across the parking lot. We walked the stores and did some more talking. Does that come as a surprise to any of you? We found a Christian book store. That is where we spent most of our time. We walked through the store discussing different books, authors, etc. Then we found the comfy chairs that book stores have and sat down for more good chatting. :) Our dads came in after a while. They did the same thing we did. The walked through the store looked at books, discussed some authors, and then went and sat in the chairs Bethany and I had been in when we got up to go look at some rings. My dad even sat in the chair I had been sitting in and her dad sat in the chair she had been sitting in.
Bethany and I picked out these neat rings that we really liked. We had looked at all the rings in the store (more than once!) and this one was our favorite. After a while Bethany just grabbed two of them and went and bought them. Isn't she sweet? ;)
All too soon our day came to a close. I was sad, of course, to say good bye but I was ever so thankful for the time we had gotten to spend!

Paul Washer and Joel Osteen

The Hope of Our Nation

I will give thanks to the Lord.
I will give praise to the Hope of the nations.
I will give thanks to the Lord,
I will give thanks with a song of glad adoration.

I had many things I thought about saying tonight. When I heard this song it just jumped out at me and I changed my mind. Even though we as a nation have turned our back on Him, Christ is still the only Hope of our nation.

Not to say it is cold here or anything...

1.Beckisue just came home and told us that it was almost 30 degrees colder here than than it was at the North Pole last night.
2. Our county was the coldest around here.
3. It was about 60 degrees colder last night than it was in Alaska.
4. It is over 100 degrees colder than where my brother and sister in law live which is where Monica is visiting right now.

BUT

1. I have lots of clothes to dress warmly in.
2. I have a home to live in.
3. I have mounds of blankets (you should see my bed about now!)
4. Most importantly, we have a God who controls the weather.

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Him above ye Heavenly hosts!
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!

Even when it isn't easy we have to remember to give thanks for everything for this is the Will of God.

Just in case anyone needed a good laugh today...

More delays of real posts...

I am still not going to catch up on any of the posts I am supposed to be doing... None of the pictures I need to post are on this computer.
Today was long. I don't really feel like giving details because I am tired. I know this is boring for everyone, but after all this is what I said I started this blog for - So I could keep track of events.
Anyway... enough excuses already.
I got up late (I am really good at sleeping through the snooze on my alarm clock!) and had to rush around to leave in time for my violin lesson. Monica and I left on time (surprisingly enough) for our lessons. We had our normal lessons. Enough of that part of the day.
We left straight from there to go to Lafayette. It takes about an hour and half to get there from where we were. We met with some friends for lunch. We ate at this place called Moe's. I got the biggest burrito type thing I have ever seen. I didn't even eat half of it. ( the rest of it will come in later in my story)
When we had said our good byes we went to clean a house. Monica was supposed to clean it earlier this week but that is a story in and of itself. So since I was along for the ride today I helped her clean it. The house was massive!! It made ours look small. (maybe not quite but close) It was built in 1843. I really like old houses. It was such a cool house! It had some pretty ornate woodwork.
After we finished cleaning the house I was starting to get hungry again. So I got my burrito out and started eating it again. When I decided I had had enough I wrapped it up again. We did a little bit of shopping while we were there. And on the way home I finished my burrito. I told you it was BIG. Now do you believe me?
Was that boring enough for everyone?? At least I can say I posted.