Nae’s Heart

Well for me at the end of summer it is back to work…and because I work at a school it is also back to school.  This week was Teacher in-service and as support staff I was there also.  It is wonderful to work and a Christian School and be able to serve the Lord.  I really enjoy working with my friends and My Love (James).  This week ended up being extremely busy due to the fact that we were at work until 4 or later everyday.

Since I don’t have a classroom to decorate or orientation to prepare for I get to help put whomever needs me.  It is fun to wander from classroom to classroom and staple a poster here, help move a desk there, taking these papers to this class, and copying something.  It allows me to spend a little bit of time with each co-worker and to be a blessing, I hope!

Also since I wasn’t tied to the school in the afternoons I was able to help out the new volleyball coach by driving the Varsity girls to practice.  I have had a great time spending time with the team and getting to know the new coach.  His name is Ryan Gordon and he was on the coaching staff of the USA women’s volleyball team.  He is good at what he does and I have learned a lot from him in just 2 days.  He has talked about the Lord with the team and encouraged them to be committed to the Lord and it will show through in a commitment to volleyball.

So on top of being back at work and really busy, we are also packing to move.  We are moving to Westminster and closer to the school.  Our move date is Sept 4th which is Labor Day weekend and the first weekend after school starts.  I feel like I have a ton to do and not enough time to do it in.  I am trying to get as much done today and tomorrow… then we will see what else needs to be done next week.  I am excited for out new apartment, but I dislike packing

If you can’t tell from the title I am being sarcastic… I don’t hate doctors but I do get anxiety every time I am going to see a new doctor for the first time.  In the last 3 weeks I have been to 2 new doctors and am going to a 3rd one this afternoon…

Why all the new doctors you ask? Well I happen to have switched my Medical group in August and that means going to a new allergist.  I had to visit my Primary Care Doctor to get a referral to an allergist and also an opthamologist.  So the first appointment was establishing care and getting referrals, thankfully I really like my new dr so that was fairly painless.

The opthamologist on the other hand I was so nervous…I was literally shaking in the waiting room. Now that appointment was painless also…I was given a prescription for steroid eye drops.  The dr said that it looked like all my eye problems were caused by allergies but my eyes were really inflamed and these drops would calm them down and hopefully fix the problem.  I have to go back and see her in a month.

This afternoon is a new allergist and I am once again nervous.  I had been going to the same allergist for almost 3 years so it is a big step.  I am hoping that I don’t have to have another “back prick” allergy test, but if that is what he wants to do then I guess I will survive.

All these dr visits are teaching me to trust the Lord…I get so caught up in what I am going through that I forget to trust the Lord. I am gradually learning to look to Him no matter what is going on.  Why do I struggle with this?  Why is it so hard? I know that I believe in Him but why can’t I put my trust in Him to control the situation.  He already knows what the outcome will be yet I still think that I can manipulate it to be what I want!

“Lord, help me to put my trust in you and to not fear.  Help me to let you have control of every situation.  Teach me let go of my fear and to humbly allow you to guide my life! I love you, Lord.”

Last Monday -Wednesday I had the opportunity as a youth leader to go camping with the teens.  We call it Tent Camp and use it as a time to build relationships with each other, but mostly with the Lord.  We have a huge emphasis on devotions and talking about your walk with the Lord.  It was great we had 19 teens and a dozen leaders.

Hanging out

I was confronted during Tent Camp with some things in my life that weren’t glorifying to God.  I had the chance to right some of those things and to allow the Lord to start working on the others.

Some of the highlights were setting up the tents, which some of the teens had never done before, hanging out at the beach and surfing, small group discussions about the devotions, singing around the camp fire, storytime with Pastor Matt reading from Screwtape Letters and just the nature that God made.

The guys setting up a tent that was "missing pieces"

Come to find out all the pieces were there so it got set up properly the next day!

Those who didn't want to swim hung out on the shore

The sun shining through the leaves!

One of the most important things that we learned was that our ultimate purpose in life is to bring God glory.  No matter what happens in our lives God wants the glory… Through life or death we should be giving Him the glory.

this is my ring with the sun shining on it to make a heart in the shadow...

So after our very long and exciting Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday was pretty kick back.  James had to work Thursday morning so we had a chance to catch up on sleep.  Yes, I like to sleep in… Our plan for Thursday was to visit the Nixon Library and then have dinner at home.  Since it is close we figured heading there at 1 pm would be plenty of time.  While James was at work Mom and Dad went grocery shopping for dinner and Ruth and I were lazy at the house.  We had decided to do sandwiches at home for lunch so we all made our sandwiches while James was on his way home from work.  All he had to do when he got home was eat and change, then we were out the door for another family adventure.

The entry way

The Nixon Library is full of history and interesting things about the family.   The grounds include the house Nixon was born in, the gazebo from the White House that his daughter was married in, and Marine One from his presidency.

Ruth has a thing for astronauts...jk

Cool shot in the garden... Can you spot our family?

After seeing all the sights at the Museum, we decided to make a starbucks stop on the way home.  We sat inside as we drank our coffee and laughed at all of us trying to decide what to do the next day!  We then headed home to enjoy a nice relaxing dinner.  We had grilled rib-eye, potato salad, grilled corn on the cob, and cheesecake for dessert.  We enjoyed the evening playing Monopoly Deal and laughing together.

The guys watching the grill

Playing Monopoly Deal

On Friday, James had to work in the morning again, but we were heading to the RMS Queen Mary in the afternoon.

The RMS Queen Mary

I had never been on the Queen Mary before.  It was very nice and enjoyable.  We once again had lunch at home and waited for James to come home from work before we headed out.  We started our tour of the gorgeous ship with the Ghosts and Legends SHOW! It was hilarious.  It was all about the “ghosts” that had been sited on the Queen Mary, but it was full of dry humor and staged special effects.  We laughed the whole way through and at the end the the tour guide told us we had too much fun! lol Then came the real tour.  We got the audio headsets and heard lots of interesting facts and stories.

Checking out the cool painting

The tour takes you all over the ship and gives you history about it.  It was really neat.

Ruth and I

James and I relaxing on the deck

When we left the Queen Mary we decided to check out a diner… It was delicious.  After dinner we decided to drive PCH home.  On this vacation we ended up driving almost all of PCH from Santa Monica to Newport Beach.

So Saturday was the last full day of vacation.  Dad decided he wanted rent and ride on of those four people bikes,  a surrey.  So we headed to Balboa Peninsula and found a surrey to rent.  We rented it for an hour and within 15 minutes of riding it everyone was tired, except me since I had the middle seat.

Ruth and I riding the surrey with the fringe on top

James and dad taking a break

We enjoyed ice cream and pizza for lunch and then walked the pier just for some exercise.

My Love and I on the Balboa Pier

Daniel was able to come down from Ironwood and join us.  Our house was so full that Daniel had to sleep on the kitchen floor.  For dinner that night we went to Maggiano’s, a wonderful Italian restaurant.  They had a gluten-free menu which is great for Ruth.  The Executive Chef came out and explained some of the gluten-free options to Ruth and then gave her a complimentary appetizer.  Mom and Dad were really happy and impressed with the service and the food.  After dinner we made a quick run to Target for some things that Daniel needed and then headed home for some quality family time.

Sunday morning, dad headed to the Long Beach airport to fly back to Oakland, Mom and Ruth headed out to Arizona for a couple days, and Daniel went to church with us and then headed back to Ironwood.

It was a wonderful week of laughter, teasing, fun, memories, and much more!  Check out all the pictures here

So I left off at Wednesday Morning, We wanted to visit one place that we had seen on the Food Network… It didn’t matter which one, just one.  We tried to visit Emma Jean’s Holland Burger which had been featured on Diner’s Drive-In’s and Dive’s but it was closed so… We finally made it to a restaurant which was featured on the show “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”  Bobby Flay ate at Cafe 222 and loved their Banana and Peanut Butter stuffed French Toast.  Cafe 222 was delicious… I had granola Pancakes, James had, of course, the above mentioned Stuffed French Toast, Dad had a Multi-gran Waffle, Ruth and Mom had eggs, ham or sausage, and potatoes.  We all enjoyed our food…

My Granola Pancakes

James' Stuffed French Toast

Our next adventure was over on Coronado.  We drove over the bridge and headed towards Ferrylanding.  We did some touristy shopping and then drove to the Hotel del Coronado…

Hotel del Coronado

Ruth going to touch the water

My Love and I

After wandering around there and enjoying the sites and smells, we headed back across the bridge to Seaport Village.

The Ducklings at Seaport Village

Deciding to head to Point Loma

We enjoyed a short time of shopping there and then decided that we wanted to see the Point Loma Lighthouse, but most of us wanted coffee first.  So we searched coffee houses on our iPhone’s and found Jave Jones Coffee House.  Java Jones makes great coffee and is a cool place… they roast their own coffee beans.

The Entrance

I didn't want coffee so I got a Coke... In a glass bottle

So our adventure continued to Cabrillo National Monument and the Point Loma Lighthouse.  It was nice and breezy out as we arrived.  We enjoyed our walk to the Lighthouse and look out points…

James "sharing" his coffee with Ruth

The Lighthouse

We finished the circle and were getting ready to leave when James spotted a submarine and possible a frigate coming into port.  It was really cool… very far out so I don’t have the best pictures of them but here are the ones I do have.

Can you spot the submarine?

I think it is a Frigate

We left Point Loma and headed to Old Town San Diego… Dinner was scheduled for there.

Deciding where to eat

We ate at Casa Del Reyes and this was an experience all its own.  See James ordered the hottest burrito they had, I ordered bean and cheese. I don’t do hot, EVER!  Well when the food was delivered the server pulled a pick out of a burrito and asked who had the hot one… I pointed to James’ seat and he set it down.  Then he set mine in front of me.  James was not sitting at the table at the moment but we decided to begin eating…yes, you probably guessed by know, I got James’ super hot burrito and took one bit… I quickly grabbed anything in front of me to cool my mouth down.  Chips, beans, rice, Ruth’s horchata, and my water, my mouth was on fire.  I didn’t even get to enjoy my own burrito after that because my mouth hurt so bad.  Well, I guess I will have to do one more post about vacation since this was all day Wednesday.  I will put Thursday, Friday and Saturday in a separate post!  Enjoy and for more pictures click here

James and I weren’t really planning on taking a vacation this summer… except for a weekend trip to Arizona to watch a baseball game.  But James’ parents decided to come visit us for their vacation and we have had a great time with them.  They arrived on Friday, July 23rd, and we started vacation with dinner at Yardhouse… the food was delicious.

Ruth's Spicy Tuna Roll

My parents came over that evening for dessert and just to visit.

On Saturday, we headed out to Ironwood to visit Daniel, James’ brother, who is working there for the summer.  It was a nice day.  We stopped at Ontario Mills Mall on the way out and also had a picnic lunch at a park…

My Love and I

We arrived at Ironwood and it was hot.  I drank a whole water bottle inside the first 30 min, and probably 2 more before we left.

Hanging out at the Homestead

We were given a tour of the property by Sheriff Tom Horton.  It was very nice to see how the property and ministry has grown.

Mom, Dad, and Ruth enjoying the tour but not the heat

We also saw Renae Archer, her sisters and a friend were visiting her.  After our very hot, but nice, tour we headed to Victorville for dinner.  Daniel joined us and we enjoyed a meal at The Original Roadhouse.  They have the best blackberry lemonade I have ever tasted.

My quart of Blackberry Lemonade

After dinner we hung out a little longer and then we headed home while Daniel headed back to Ironwood.

Sunday was church and Mom and Dad joined James and I at Bethel while Ruth went to Lighthouse.  It was a fun but interesting day since James and I only have a 3 seater truck and there were 4 of us…It took a little shuttling but we managed okay.  We walked to Wingnuts for lunch and then went to Target.  For Dinner we decided Yougurtland sounded good so that is what we had.

James was able to take Monday-Wednesday off.  On Monday, we went to the Ronald Reagan Museum.  It was very touching and interesting.

My Love and I with Air Force One in the background

Picnic lunch at the Reagan Museum

Ruth and I

On the way home we decided to go to the Santa Monica Pier and promenade.

Mom and Dad at the 3rd St Promenade

We finished the night out with dinner at Chipotle and an adventure to find a mall!  It was a day full of fun, laughing, and teasing.

Tuesday we traveled to San Diego.  We drove down Pacific Coast Highway for part of the trip and then finished it out on the 5 fwy.  Our first stop was the zoo…

I love this man!

We took a 40 min bus ride around to see the animals and took some really nice pictures.  After getting off the bus, our first stop was the Koala’s,

He didn't want to fall

they were all sleeping so we moved on down Monkey trail to Albert’s where we enjoyed a relaxing lunch.  After stuffing ourselves we headed to see the Pandas.  And for those who know who he is, Brian Regan jokes were a special part of this.  Our next adventure was to see the Polar Bears…

One of my favorite animals!

We also saw elephants (Ruth’s favorite animal), zebras, giraffes, bears, and many other animals… After leaving the zoo we went to the motel 6 where we were spending the night… They had very interesting bedspreads.

The interesting bedspreads

After dropping our stuff off at the Motel, we headed out to a Padres/Dodgers game…It was a good game.

Taking a chance to smile

James was able to explain the game to a family visiting from England… It was very entertaining.  We stayed for the entire game and then headed back to the Motel for the night.  I still have many more adventures to tell you about… And lots more pictures to share!  To see pictures to this point click here

Yesterday was the opening day for the OC Fair… Between 12 and 1 admission and parking were free and James and I are definitely about saving money. We arrived around 12:45 and the first thing on our agenda was lunch… we had corn dogs… We had a great time wandering and looking at everything.  We saw the animals, the crafts, the photography, all the little vendors trying to sell their products, and we walked through the carnival area.  It was really hot and a little sticky so we bought a souvenir cup for $5 and then refilled it once for $2.50.  At one point we found a table and enjoyed the shade while listening to the All-American Boys Chorus.  After resting we walked around a little more and looked at everything we had already seen. it is a small fair!  James bought me a pair of Rainbow Sandals.  We bought dinner around 4:30 so we could finish before the Peking Acrobats started their show at 5:20.  For dinner I had Australian Battered Potatoes and James had a Turkey Leg.  It was delicious.  We watched the Peking Acrobats, which are amazing, and then headed home.  It was a great day spending time together, hot and sweaty, but tons of fun.

James enjoying the Turkey Leg

My Australian Battered Potatoes

The Sandals James bought me!

My Love and I

Hope you have lots of time for fun summer dates!

This song is such an encouragement to me… God has been so good in my life and this song says it in words that I can’t… I hope you enjoy it and hopefully it blesses you also!

Today marks my 11th birthday of being saved… I can’t even express in words how thankful I am for the salvation the Lord extended to me. It was July 15th, 1999, Steve Pigott was the speaker at Summer camp at Verdugo Pines… He preached the message “Have You Touched First Base?” I remember the message clearly and I remember sitting through it under very heavy conviction because I knew that I had never actually given my life to the Lord… I had been fooling everyone except myself and the Lord… I went out behind the chapel and cried out to the Lord and told Him I was sorry for living a lie and that I wanted Him to be the focus and centered of my life, that I was tired of trying to live on my own and would He please forgive me of the sin I had committed against Him, and would He come into my life and make me a new person in Him.
I have never felt a burden so heavy lifted from my shoulders… I had found rest and solace in Him and he had changed my life… in the last 11 years I have had my moments of taking control and not following Him but I serve a great and merciful God and He hasn’t let me down since I gave Him my like… I am the one that has failed and I am the one that asks for forgiveness over and over for the same sin, but God still loves me and gives me more than just a second chance. I love the sovereignty and mercifulness of God. He is always there for me and He knows exactly what I need in my life. I am so thankful to be able to serve Him at Bethel Baptist Church and School. I am so thankful for the wonderful Godly husband He has given me… I am not the same person I was 11 years ago and it is all because of the grace of God!

James made a wonderful dinner tonight… he cooked rice, sausage, and green beans…mixed them together and then stuffed red bell peppers. He cooked them in the oven. They came out delicious. We are enjoying healthier meals and this one was tops. James is a wonderful cook and I am blessed to have a husband who enjoys mixing and creating yummy foods for us to eat.