Leadership

Today I spent the day with my 1st cousin Brendan and his new wife Alexis. We went to Old Tucson, where they shot such films at "The Three Amigos." When we arrived the first monsoon of the day came through. It was a downpour and they were thinking of closing the place. But they stayed open and the three of us ran through the rain to see a show at the main saloon. We started out as the only people in the audience other than the workers coming in out of the rain. After the rain let up, the sun began to shine and we trudged through the mud to see Clint Eastwood sets, and "Little House in the Prairie" dresses. Also a few funny shoot outs and a traveling salesman.
After Old Tucson, we went back through the Saguaro National Park and stopped at an overlook and the view was amazing. (I'll upload those photos tomorrow) Then we saw the next monsoon that was about to hit Tucson with it's awesome lightening. As we drove into town we stopped in a parking spot as we waited for the rain to stop, thinking we could run into the restaurant for lunch, but we didn't stay very long becaue the water started rising to the level of the car doors. The whole area was flooding. We drove to get away and the water kept rising higher and higher. There were rivers rushing through the streets.
We finally made it through the rivers and stopped at a restaurant and ate a pretty good mexican meal. One of Alexis's co-workers came to pick her up and Brendan drove me back to our relatives house to stay. But as we left the rain started again and we had to drive through yet another monsoon and a few other rivers. Then we stayed in until the rains really stopped.
The reason why I put leadership as the title of this post is becuase I saw that quality come out in Brendan today. Brendan is the cousin I don't really know. We would speak at family gatherings, but that's it. I always thought of him as a tad bit wierd and no one that I could talk to. However, today proved different. He is nothing like I expected. He always was looking out for our best interest. He was kind and caring and it wasn't a show, in the past I thought that he would act that way in order to get attention and suck up to various family members. Today I learned that he is a genuine guy. He was more like my dad than I ever realized and I spent the whole day just marveling at how much I wished I had gotten to know him better in the past.

In the Valley

*Warning* the following post makes no sense, it's just a jumble of thoughts.

As I listen to the song, "In the Valley" I can't help to reflect upon God's goodness to me. It is in the valley where his power is revealed.

I have been in the Valley for a long time.

Right now I'm in a physical valley with mountians all around. it's amazing that being in the place that scares me is the best place to be. I've been crying out for an opportunity to grow closer to my savior. I had to get away from the cares of my normal life to be in a place where I have nothing to depend on except my Lord. I'm happy because I have had plenty of time to read his word and reflect upon his wonderous grace through the reflections of other books. I was worried about coming out here for many reasons but I've found it is what I've needed. It has forced me to look up. And in my valley I need to be looking up. But I haven't been. He's taken away all of my distractions. Except a big one about my car, but I can do nothing about it at the moment. So I have to trust him to provide for finances and a place to get it worked on, which is kinda hard since I'm three time zones away. (prayer would help)

What I mean to say is that being here has provided time to read, to pray and meditate on his word.

Let's pray that I can not loose this momentum that I'm getting.

(The picture is of the place where I get to have my quiet times.)

Jeanine's Having a Baby

Jeanine is having her baby tomorrow morning. She's going to the hospital in order to be induced at 5:30am. Hopefully baby Camille will be born tomorrow afternoon. Let's pray that it's a speedy delivery. Let's pray that her other kids survive me watching them.

Return of the Aquanuts?

This weekend I went with my friends the Ruiz's and their family out to the Eastern Shore. Not the ocean, but the Eastern Shore. (Yes, Michele I am allowed to call it that. Cheryl gave me permission.) It was a spur of the moment decision on my part to go. Earlier in the week Tony and Cheryl were telling me they were going to go out to visit some friends and family. The husband's of whom were in a band with Tony called the Aquanoutas (sp?) I will now call them the Aquanuts. They asked me if I wanted to tag along. I thought to myself, "sure I've never been to the Eastern shore, should be fun." Little did I know what I was getting myself into.
As the week went on I would get little bits of information about the trip. As when Cheryl told me to make sure I brought a tent. A TENT!!! I am not a camper. But I got my tent and went with it. People would ask me where was going and I had to tell them I have no idea.

Why am I going?

I have no idea.

What are you doing there?

I have no idea.

Do you know anything?

No I don't

Well, once I got to the lovely house in the flat country of the Eastern Shore it was very nice. The friends were nice, the weather was nice, the ticks were..not so nice. I then found out that there was going to be a party with about 40 people there. Wow, what did I do to myself. The Aquanut were going to get back together to play a few pieces. Dan, the guitar player, even ran electricity out to the shed in the backyard in order to hook up his rather nice sound system.

Saturday night as all of us girls drank a few bottles of wine, the guys practiced outside in the shed until about 1:00am.
For those of you who know how crazy I am about sleep, I did sleep outside, on the ground, in a tent. I was so tired that I slept quite well, after the band stopped playing.
The next morning everyone pitched in for the family picnic. Close to 50 people came to enjoy the great food and company. It was a good time. Halfway through I did retreat to the back room and watched Bob the Builder with 3 year-old Noah. Ahh that was relaxing.


The band did play two sets and they even let me sing with them. I didn't know the words but neither did they. They were actually quite good. You could tell that they did it for the love of playing, they didn't care how good or bad they sounded. They just wanted to have fun.


A little later they did play the CowBell song, (yes the one from Saturday night live) They had no cowbell, but after a quick time out and dash to the kitchen, one of the teens, Poppy was able to get a pot and a spoon to bang on. Then the jamming began.

It was a crazy, yet relaxing weekend. It's always an interesting time when I leave my comfort zone and go visit people I don't know and attend a party with people I don't know. It was kind of God to give me the grace to make it through without have a mental breakdown over not being in control. I was able to just coast through and actually enjoy not being in control of my schedule, my sleeping arrangements and my food. It could have ended up with me in tears and with a massive headache, but all came out well in the end. Thank you Lord.

Living Room is Done

My living room is done and put back together. Here are the pics of my new room with it's spiffy Red Wall.

What Did You Do For Fun Today?

Today was the second to last day of school. Only one more half day left and then I have summer vacation. It's time for me to start work on my summer project list. Today I did the first thing on my list. I also just added it to my list today and it was a lot of fun.
My cat Monte, is a very needy cat. He loves attention. Whenever I come home I can count on him to be waiting for me at the door. He will then proceed to follow me around until I sit down and give him the love that he so desires.
Today when I came home, he followed me into the bathroom. The other thing that you should know about Monte is that he sheds a lot and at times forgets to clean himself. So...as I stared at him in my bathroom I decided that it would be alot of fun to give him a bath.
One very hairy bathtub later this is what I got...





That's what I did for fun today.