life lately

well, obviously, i've stopped blogging regularly. in fact, it's been so long since i've even been to this site that the blog address didn't even automatically pop up when i started typing, and our history usually stays for several weeks. is anyone even out there?

life lately has been amazing. chris and i finished stumbled across the finish line of our first year of teaching. it felt like we were catching our breath and laughing at the same time. laughing out of madness of a crazy-whirlwind school year for both of us (neither of us have teaching degrees. ie, no experience. ie, we "wung" it all year!!) but also laughing because we both LOVE TEACHING. how amazing is it when the one thing you say you want to do your whole life actually turns out to be JUST what you want to do??? it's so amazing.

anyway, crossing the finish line also meant crossing into the realm of SUMMER BREAK!!! ah, a time to finally get settled into our house that got put on the back burner the day we moved in! at least that was the plan. we did that a little (mostly in the past few weeks), but our main hurrah this summer was our amazing 3.5 week road trip out west. good GRIEF! we planned it out, and then played with the idea of not doing it. we literally wrote out the pros and cons of both - going vs. staying home. saving money...time to work on music and plan for next year's school year...work on the house...NAH! the pros of going FAAAAR outweighed staying home. most of the time while we were exploring our beautiful country, it felt like God had us by the hand and was saying, "over here! i want to show you THIS!!!" and we would climb to the top of angel's landing (zion national park) or hike above nevada falls (yosemite) or explore in tide pools along hwy 1 or stare bewilderdly (yes, it IS a word) up at a humongous redwood tree. what a mighty and creative God we serve!

pictures are here on facebook...why upload them twice?
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2077272&id=41802728&l=2efd0f631a
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2077314&id=41802728&l=f6de829bf4
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2077610&id=41802728&l=328e3395c7
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2077920&id=41802728&l=e546f48596

but here are some highlights. :)



well, it won't let me upload them. perhaps THIS is why i've stopped using blogger...

other than the big road trip.....well, that's about it. we did, as i mentioned, finally get a little motivated to get this house in order. jency and i were talking and praying together one night about my level of un-organization, and how it would probably improve if we would actually move IN. we literally prayed for God to provide us an affordable couch. THE. NEXT. DAY. we found a couch in perfect condition for less than our target price. coincidence? i think not. thank you Lord. :) we also got awesome curtains and throw pillows! the curtains were originally $40/panel (we needed 5 panels) but were on sale for $30. so $150 on curtains. no big deal. the lady rang them up and gasped. "oh! these are only $14.99!!!" WAHOO!!! another gift!! now we just need to get all our pictures up on the walls, get some (free) patio furniture from my parents' house, and we'll be good to go! we've been here a year and haven't had one party. *sigh*

banjo is good. thanks for asking. we went to the vet for his little checkup and dr. lena told me that he was 2.5 pounds overweight. oh banjo. you lardo. he's 13.5 pounds and should weigh 11. apparently i can't trust the amount of cat food that the bag tells me to feed him! he is the best cat though. seriously understands english and obeys us...at least when we're around. for example, we don't want him on the new couch (please - just ONE item without fur all over it!) and we've been firm and consistent telling him NO and GET DOWN which he really responds to. the other day, he was sniffing it while we were eating dinner at the dining room table. i leaned around the corner and said quietly "banjo, don't get up there...." he sniffed it again, and went across the room to lay down. but of course, he's probably thinking "whatever. i'll just sleep on it at night and when you're gone all day. who cares..." :)

i'm addicted to SOME NEW TREND. it's a novel written and published chapter by chapter, and it's just so fun and addictive! i hadn't had a chance to listen to it until our road trip (chris would write and play music while he was riding and i was driving, and i would listen to this with my ear buds) and i'm just plain addicted. listen! you'll love it! or you can read it too.

i'm officially stuck online when i should be sleeping, so i'm going to post and go to sleep. school starts soon!!!!!!!!!