This and That

Hey friends! So for my regular readers I wanted to post something so you new I didn't fall off the earth this week. It's just been very crazy!

Monday one of my tenants threatened to shoot a Sheraton employee, so I had to leave my home for two days and was not allowed to return to work until today. So it's made the week crazy, especially when I am leaving tomorrow for vacation and now lost two days of getting prepared!

Today my friend, Brittany Hibdon, had her baby boy. His name is Culton Huston Hibdon and he was born at 2:41am. I can't wait to meet him!

Last night while shopping at Winco (groceries) my husband recognized someone and couldn't place her. Then he said "isn't that your old co-worker"? I looked up and it was an old friend who I have been trying to find. She was my Assistant Camp Director for Girl Scouts when I was Camp Director. We had really hit it off, and then she moved and we lost contact. So, I am so excited to find her and I can't wait to spend some time together and catch up.

So, tomorrow my mom and I are leaving for Disneyland! Yep, that's right. I am SO excited. Of course, most of you know how crazy I am over Disneyland, so that should not come as much of a surprise!

Well, I'm tired and need sleep. Have a great week and I will post pics when I return!

Time to Catch Up - June 10, 2008

It's been a few weeks since my last post and so much has happened, which is why I've been distant from the blogging world. After Nate's Birthday, we still had my birthday to come, the funeral for my beloved grandfather, graduation for a dear friend of ours and of course life as we know it day by day.

I've included pics from some of these events. Our friend Nick Hightower graduated from Chico State on May 25th and we went to his party that afternoon. Nick and his beautiful wife Molly are in the picture above at his party with Nate and myself. We are so happy and proud for Nick. Great job friend!

My birthday was the next day and I had a good day despite the circumstances with Grandpa's passing. I got my nails and hair done that day, and then my mom-in-law through me a party that night with all the family. You can see pics of my new hair above. One of me with Nate, and one of me at dinner. The party was very nice and I felt so loved to have all the family gather for me. I do believe that was my first "family" party just for me. It was nice and made me feel wonderful. That evening after the party I got to hang out with my sis-in-law for a couple of hours too, just the two of us. She is an amazing person who I feel blessed to call my sis. It was wonderful to spend some time with her. Late on my birthday night, my mom and I headed to Sacramento to pick up my brother as he was flying in for grandpa's funeral. He is proud of the fact that he got here for my birthday too. So it was a nice day.

May 29 we burried grandpa. The funeral was amazing. That may sound weird to some, but I am just blown away at the love I felt for my grandpa and at how wonderful the service turned out. I played the piano at the funeral, which was the first time in ten years I have played in front of people. That was a huge thing for me, for one because I was paying tribute to my grandpa, and for other reasons that I will share in another blog another time. Anyway, then my brother and I sang "In the Garden" which we had sang at grandma's funeral seven years ago. Family even remembered we sang it at grandma's which blew me away. So that was special. Then I read a poem I wrote for grandpa. The pastor who did the service is a former pastor of mine, and very dear friend. He did an amazing job in the service and really honored my mom for her caretaking of my grandfather, and honored us as a family for how close we are. It was incredible and I feel very blessed. Then, when we got to the graveside service, the verterans were there when we pulled up. This was a surprise to us, as we had tried to arrange for that, but were told it was not going to happen. So, to pull up and see them there was incredible. The presented my mom with a flag and did their tribute to my grandfather for his service to our country. It was an amazing sight. Finally we came to Chico for a reception which friends had put together for us. It was very nice to have a place to gather after services and not have had to worry about the details. Thanks to all who helped with that, if any of you read this.
Finally I want to say thank you to Molly for her support through the passing of my grandfather. Molly went to corning with mom and I to make funeral arrangements, and then she came to the funeral, sat with me and my family and held me as I cried into her arms. She walked me to the casket after the service ended and helped me say goodbye to my grandpa. Her words and support were incredible and I am so blessed. Thank you Molly, you are a gift from God.

So, the picture of me and Nate with the ride in the background, and the picture of the butterfly were taken at Six Flags, Discovery Kingdom. The weekend after the funeral, Mom, my brother, myself and my hubby decided to get out of town and spend some family time alone, away from the stress of the week. So, we went to the amusement park and just relaxed. I must say it was just what we needed and we had a great time.

Well friends, if you are still reading this, you are truly devoted. I will try to keep up with postings again so you all don't have to read something so long again!

Thank you to all who have gotten me through the passed 3-4 weeks. I love you.

Walking, and Talking and Walking

Today was my normal day off, which is starting to include a nice walk in Bidwell Park. I had to make sure to get that walk in today as it is supposed to start raining tomorrow for the next several days. I've been blessed with a new friend, turned walking partner, and we have started meeting up for these walks on Monday afternoons.
We both talk a lot, and there never seems to be a lull in conversation. This would explain why we ended up walking eight miles today, right?
Yes, yes...you read correctly, today we walked eight miles. Why? Well, we were talking and neither one of us decided to ever say anything about crossing over to start back to where we started. So we kept walking, and got clear to the end of the park where it meets the road where we finally crossed the bridge to start turning back.
We talked a lot about family, church, Christianity and life in general. We talked about how Christianity is a gift, and how we just want to be able to share the gift with people; How as Christians we need to live our lives as an example of Christ so that people can see this gift we've been given. We as Christians should not have to be pushy and shove our Christianity in people's lives. People should be able to see that something is different in our lives, and then they can ask questions if they want to know more.
We both shared stories about people in our lives' who have asked questions about church, and God and our lives without us needing to be forceful about our Christianity. We can't force this gift we've been given on other people. It is their choice to take it.
So today's walk reminded me of the question: You can walk the walk, but do you talk the talk? My thoughts on this "Christianese" saying is this: Our walk must be evident of a relationship with Christ, and the words that come out of our mouth need to be edifying of Christ. However I don't believe that "talking the talk" needs to include being forceful with our words of our Christianity. People don't like Christianity shoved down their throats. We must be sensitive to the people in our lives and know when they are ready to hear something about Christ. If they see our lives edifying Christ, they will see this gift we've been given. When the time is right, they will ask questions and Christ will make evident to us the words to say to them.
I am just reminded that our Christianity is a gift from God, and we can not force anyone else to accept that gift.