California Sea Lions, taking a break.
Beautiful Coast line.
High on the hill, Hearst Castle.
The clouds rolled through as we looked at this magnificent pool that was filled with natural spring water. I think even Phil would swim in this one since there were no chemicals used to keep this pool looking this amazing. I was in awe of the mosaic patterns used in the tiles in the pool as well as the sculptures that were in and around the pool.
The front of the home.
This is part of one of the living room areas where parties were held. I loved the tapestries and the intricately carved wood panels from Europe.
This indoor swimming pool was under the tennis courts. This whole room was done in mosaic tiles with morano glass and real gold leaf. It was stunning.
I found this place through Google. We wanted to watch a sunset and have a nice meal. Yes, vacations mean food, we eat...a lot!
This was a gorgeous way to end our day. God in His majesty, through His voice on the waves to the setting of the sun. Our God, is an awesome God.
With a funny P.S. This was a one legged seagull that when he made noise sounded just like a cat in pain. It was hilarious.
This was a great place for lunch. "Moby Dick's, and yes we had fish for lunch. Out on the pier with a nice ocean view, plus a few cute shops on the way back. 
Phil: I dont think we are going to make it to Hawaii for Christmas but I think we need a vacation soon. What do you think, should we do San Diego?
Janice: Let's try some place different, how about San Francisco? I haven't been since I was in High School.
Phil: Sounds great! I got an idea, let's fly into LA and drive up highway 1 and enjoy the view.
Janice: Love it. How about we rent a convertable?
Phil: Sounds good. What should we do while we are there?
Janice: We always have more fun when we only plan a couple of things and let the rest just happen. We can do Alcatraz.
Phil: I heard they have an evening tour.
Janice: OK, done. Darn the Giants arent in town.
Phil: What about the A's?
Janice: Yep, done.
Janice: My sister Joyce suggested a few "must do's". (She is the family San Fran pro).
Phil: Sounds like a plan.
And this is how we plan our vacations...together, 22 years of experience in working on a plan. We spend time together, we pray together, we walk together, we talk together, we praise God for our love.
Phil and I are heading out on vacation tomorrow. We really look forward to these brief pauses in our daily routine. We have finally learned that to make a vacation relaxing, is to only plan a couple of things and let the rest of it be guided by where we are at the moment. This sure seems to slow down the pace some, since we are not running from one thing to another. We are ready.
We also look forward to sharing every breakfast together, sharing the Word, praying together as a way to start the day. Normally with Phil leaving for work at 4:00am every day, this is a special treat. We also spend a lot of time discussing our relationship and our goals as a couple as well as individually.
We are flying to LA first thing in the morning and spending the day. On Monday we will start driving up Highway 1 (the scenic drive) slowly, stopping in Cambria then continue North, arriving in San Francisco on Tuesday. We wanted to be sure to leave time to hop off the freeway and explore whenever we feel like it. Please say a prayer for safety and for much needed relaxation.
I cannot remember the last time a thunderstorm had so much flashing and drama!
We watched it from a distance when there was no sound or rain...then suddenly it was over and all around us. The pattering of rain now falling, and increasing, and sudden clashes of cymbals, such magnificence! It seemed as though the angel Gabriel himself was welding and sparks were all around. I wonder what incredible sculpture Gabriel could make. I am so grateful of this glimpse of God's power and majesty. This was our ringside seat from our back patio, enjoy!
Saturday was spent getting canvases ready for Sunday. There is more detail about that painting event on my art blog. What you won't see there though, was the yellow paint disaster in my trunk! Yep, a gallon of yellow paint spilled in the trunk of the car as I was on my way home. The smell was horrible! I got home while Phil was fixing dinner (Steak, okra and potatoes-Yummy) so he said "Boys, go help your mom". Fortunately both Shane and Daniel cheerfully helped get all of the other cans out and managed to get the carpet thrown away. Thanks guys. The best part of the day was sitting down and having dinner with our handsome young men.
Sunday morning was spent at church, painting in all three services. Jenn, Donald and Shelby joined us for lunch and they brought a guest, their new puppy Rosie. What a cutie-pie. Jenn baked cookies for me while I rested a bit and played with Shelby. After lunch Jenn begged, yes indeed begged to have her hair cut. She wanted it much shorter. Phil was trying to take a nap but Shelby was sprawled in his lap and she was snorting while Donald and Rosie were crashed and Donald was snoring. All in all it was quite loud as I cut about a 1 1/2 feet of hair off of Jenn. Later after she woke up I gave Shelby her first trim. We did just the bangs. Both girls are a bit lighter.
Daniel went to Florida to spend the weekend with a friend. We had the house to ourselves!
Saturday we made waffles together and Phil had a surprise set up for us in the afternoon - massages! What a nice treat!
On Sunday morning we decided we would go to church later in the afternoon and Phil suggested that we go to an early movie. We saw The Mummy, which was fun, but not quite the same without Rachel Weiz as Evie.
Phil did his usual workout while I finally started my painting of Matthew Fleming. I had no idea how hard it would be to work on a portrait of someone who is no longer with us. Prayers were lifted and memories flood every stroke. If you want to see the progress of the painting it will be on my art blog.
While I was praying for Michelle and Mark and their family for their loss, otheres were brought to mind as well to lift up to our great and Awesome God. Al-Health, Barb-Health, Tanya-Job, Gerry-Health, Lena-Loss of her brother, Maryann-Health, Amy-Finances, Cheryl-Home, Nancy-Family, Eric-Recovery, Greg-Health, Phil-Work, Janice-Work. As the great hymn of old says, "What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer".
Hard for me to believe but it has been 30 years since I graduated from Flagstaff High School (Go Eagles!). Phil and I have attended each reunion, the 10, 20 and now the 30. During both the Friday and Saturday event I was struck by not only our physical changes, but our changes in how we interact with each other. Hugs were given and received for no other reason than to say how glad we were together; it didn't even matter that 30 years ago we didn't have a class or spent time together.
Comparing the reunions was fun. At the 10 year reunion most of us had married, found a career path and had young children. Stories at that reunion still had some of the social standings interlaced, and there was still competitiveness somewhat in where you lived or what you were doing.
As the 20 rolled around, perspective in the stories seemed to change; they were less edgy and less judgemental focusing more on the goofy things that we did. By this time we had lost some class members to death, incarceration or just didn't know where they went. This was our class reminder that our journey is indeed finite.
30 years and it went by so quickly. We don't look the same as we were young, our experience shows through the lines on our faces, the extra pounds that we carry and a few carry the same vices they had in High School. There were some people that you could tell by just looking at them that life for them had grown in a good way, they were content, they were happy. Others showed that perhaps they wished they had taken a different turn at some point and held on to some regrets. Photos were shared by passing around camera phones and consisted of grown children and in some cases grandchildren.
Since my family moved so often and I was able to spend two full years with them, I look upon them as the family of my childhood, my last connecting thread to that time in my life. The memories are fond and I am so grateful I was embraced by this small community. Memories shared this time were more of a salute to the past as a way of saying thanks for being a part of the fabric of who we have become. There were more losses, and more vows to "keep in touch" and a commitment to get together in 5, not 10 more years, as well as making every effort to find those that didn't join us.
I enjoyed this reunion as a reminder of my past but also to see how far I have come. I am now a grateful child of God, wife, mother and grandmother, sister, daughter and friend. I look forward to the day when another reunion will come; when I see my Savior face to face, when I see loved ones and more friend from my past. That will be the greatest reunion ever. In the meantime, I will cherish old friends and will work harder at keeping in touch.
What great fun we are having on our "Fridays with Nana". Shelby is also turning into quite the ham. Every time I took out my camera she came crawling up as fast as she could to get up close to the camera. Goofy kid!
Home Fellowship was at our house tonight. I baked some cookies to share not just because we usually share a dessert at Home Fellowship but there was a tie into tonights lesson.
We are in the process of deciding on a new study to work through as a group so we were all supposed to bring some recommendations.
We did the first chapter in Bob Roglein's book Experiential Worshipper. I brought this book back from the Saddleback worship conference. Bob did such a great job of setting up a word picture of a great banquet at his mother's house for Thanksgiving. We could almost picture the bounty of food on the table and imagine the smells of the great feast. I thought the smell of fresh baked cookies would help in that part of the lesson :)
Bob goes on to say that there is an even greater feast in Heaven.
The journey of his book is to recognize that all of our senses should be used in worship. Isn't that what God gave them to us for anyway? When was the last time you worshiped God through not just sight but hearing, touching, tasting and even smelling. We decided tonight that we will go ahead an continue with this book and start looking for another study to begin in January.
I will be sure to share the journey as we go through it.
