bathtime

Sheli and I gave Bear a bath last night (ok, I gave bear a bath, sheli sat on the bathroom counter eating a snack keeping me company). It was the first time I bathed him in years (no he's not nasty dirty... well, my dad might disagree... he usually goes to a groomer) but he needs his shots and can't get groomed until he gets them and since we're moving this week, I thought it would be nice to have a clean dog in my new house. Mid bath i remembered why I stopped bathing him myself and started taking him to the groomers.... I was more wet than he was.

Lunch

I sat outside today for lunch to enjoy the sun and fresh air. I took this picture with my phone just before heading in. The sweet smell of flowers, warm weather and fresh snow on the mountains from the rain this weekend...... beautiful!!!!

mmmmmmmm.....

...the smell of orange blossoms are everywhere here! It is amazing (and not citrus-y at all like one might think). It is light and sweet and makes me smile because it means spring is here. We have three orange trees at my parents and four at my new house including one that sits right outside the kitchen window so no matter which house I'm in I can always smell it come through the windows on the breeze...

all the more reason to love march.

March Madness::. BitterSweet

I think the month of march is about changes, at least in my world.

Last Sunday my dad announced in church that Weston, our youth pastor, was resigning to pursue urban ministry and the search for the next youth pastor was beginning. I've known he was resigning since the end of Jan. and that he had actually given his letter of resignation just after winter camp in Feb, but the announcement was postponed due to "technical difficulties."

This is kinda bittersweet for me. Weston and I have had a....ummm, how shall I say this... turbulent relationship over the past year and a half(I would say tumultuous but that implies a whole world of things that are not the case). But regardless of our immense differences in how we relate to kids, how view things and do things, he's become a really good friend who is dependable, stable, non-grudge holding and is always seeking the Lord. And our relationship, while still having differences, has grown into one of mutual respect and open frank honesty. While I'm sad that my friend will be leaving for other things and aware of how different it will be when he's gone, I'm excited for him and at the thought of a new youth pastor who can really related to kids and bring new life and excitement. I not going to lie here though, the thought of a new youth pastor that I may not know is a little scary to me. Weston and I have a built a good working relationship. As the female counterpart to his leading, he allows me a huge amount of freedom in programing, planning, and leading that I've come to enjoy. I know that this might not be the case with the new person and that it will take a time adjust and build trust and develop boundaries.... all the fun stuff.

The fun part is, or maybe not fun depending on how it goes, is that once the the applicants are weeded out and have gone through an initial interview process, I, as well as the two other people on who serve on the "youth commision" get to do the second interview.

So the search begins...

March Madness::.

HOME SWEET HOME

Last month I was approached by a lady at church. She and her husband own and manage a retirement community at the end of the street. The church is on one corner of the block the Upland Manor at the other about a 6th of a mile away. The Upland Manor owns a few houses along the span between the two. (I'm sure you can see where this is going).

She asked if I would be interested in renting one of the houses. We chatted for a few minutes about it, I told her I had dogs she told me what the rent would be but that it included w/s/t, lawn and pool service (yeah it has a pool).

Later that week my mom and I walked down to the vacant house to look around the outside. I loved what I saw! The house looks small and quaint from the front but is really a nice sized 3 bedroom 2 bath house on a large sized lot (by cali standards). There is a stone patio off the dining room and master bedroom that includes a built in brick fireplace, grill and wash sink, A large detached garage, An in ground pool with hot tub and huge pool house (which can double as a guest house that comes complete with fireplace and built in bar) followed by a nice back yard with plum and orange trees.

To make a long story short, over the course of a few weeks, the rent dropped dramatically, the board approved the dogs and dropped the pet deposit and lowered the over all security deposit. We were originally told the pool house was going to be off limits, but during our last conversation were told the pool is ours with free reign to do whatever we want to cosmetically. Great roommates appeared almost out of nowhere and though we haven't officially signed the lease (we just turned in the deposit this week) we were given permission to move in early free of charge.

I am soooo blessed!!!


I guess the short version would have been to just say: I'm moving out of my parents house!


Here are some photos of the outside of the house (patio was still being cleaned up from the last tenant when I walked down to take them)

(Self) Discipline: Freedoms Ugly Step Sister

I'm not sure that the title makes any sense but being one who sees most things in terms of relationship, it made me laugh... mostly because I am admittedly not good at self discipline.

I had a hard time figuring out what to blog about... there are a ton of good things happening here, both in the realm of self discipline and in big changes. So I decided I start with discipline and talk about the changes at a later date.

So, the last wednesday in February marked the start of lent. I've never really taken lent seriously other then to say I'm giving up exercising or going to work..etc. This year though I was strongly encouraged to do it by my mentor/discipler/counselor (what ever you want to call her) Catherine. I'm not Catholic and neither is Catherine. But she explained lent to me in a way that made more sense then just "sacrificing something you like for 40 days as an act of worship." Now, don't get me wrong, that's all well and good but she explained that Lent is more about giving up something and pressing in to the void it creates and find renewal. Like if I struggle with gluttony, daily fasting a meal to pray and get to the root of my sin issue with food and ask God to meet me there. Or if I am constantly tired, to give up coffee and press into the exhaustion to find out what the root of it is... etc.

I had a really hard time picking my "Lentin Discipline." I don't really drink besides an occasional glass of wine, my last of which was way before my birthday in January. I don't really smoke besides the occasional cigar on the beach. My long struggle with food is, at the moment, under control. I don't really watch tv, not for lack of enjoying it but for lack of time. My spending is... well we'll discuss that a little later. But what I have become keenly aware of over the past year is my immense desire for and seeking of affirmation from others, not from the God and how that has kept my heart imprisoned in a lot of ways. So the seeking is what I'm giving up and asking for renewal in the desire to receive it from him. Bringing a thought process, esp. an unconscious one, under control seems nearly impossible. And truthfully it kinda has been. Figuring out how to "walk it out" has been tricky esp. since I'm social. While I don't really feel like I need to go into the nitty gritty of how/when/what, I did realize that I need to pull back socially (though not completely...that would be insanity for me) and carve out a set time daily to focus/meditate/read on what God says about Himself,what He says about me, strengths he's given me and His purpose for me. So that's what I've been doing for the last week and I have to tell you that Catholic or not, Lent has been humbling, extremely eye opening but amazing none-the-less.

My battle with my heart motivations are not the only area of (self) discipline I am encountering these days. This month marks something huge for me... almost big enough to make March 2009 my favorite month of all time (that's not taking into account that fact that I some day hope to get married and birth some babies). I started travel nursing 4 1/2 years ago. One (of the several)reasons I did that was to pay off the HUGE amount of debt I had. So huge that a year after starting this "journey" I calculated my debt (excluding my house) and taped the number to my credit card... that number was between (gulp) $40 and $50 thousand dollars. This month, I will pay off the Montero, and the $15000 dollar debt consolidation loan I took out and spent with out consolidating anything, leaving me with my recent school expenses and a house (which is for currently for sale). This didn't hit me until just a few days ago and it gives me an incredible sense of freedom!!! I didn't think this day would ever come but it comes at the perfect time (it coincides with one of the several big changes to be discussed at a later date) I recently got Quicken accounting software for my lap-top (yeah yeah yeah... it's been around forever) but it too has opened my eyes to my often ridiculous spending habits. There is something about knowing you have to enter transactions and watching your account dwindle for frivolous things like Starbucks, or a trip to Target on a rainy day (ladies you know what I mean). Don't get me wrong, I am not at all anal about money, nor do I have a problem giving it away or spending it on people, that's actually one of things I enjoy doing the most, but I have also never really balanced my check book and being on a budget before the last few years either....

Self discipline is hard. I'm not good at it. But I'm learning freedom is only really freedom when you know how to exercise a little bit of self discipline.

(disclaimer 1- I'm not saying the affirmation from people is bad. I think it is a necessity. Disclaimer 2- no applause please on the debt payoff. My spending has gone from good to bad to ugly and back again more times then I can count... and I have a closet with clothes and shoes that have never been worn to prove it. In truth I could/should have had it all paid off in half the time. I guess sometimes the hardest lessons need to be taught multiple times before they get learned).