Off we go into the wild blue yonder!

Well, class went well this week. The first day was 7 hours of lecture, which was a bit tiresome. The second day, however, was 6 hours of weight training, gym exercises, and olympic style lifting! It was a lot of great information, and my quads are reminding me how much good work it was today! I can't sit down for too long because when I stand up, it feels like I just hiked the Grand Canyon!

Today, I am heading about 30 miles down the road to camp with my family at Pine Grove in Flagstaff! My mom, dad, sister and her hubbie are coming up for four days, and then my sister and Jeff will stay through the week to celebrate FOURTH OF JULYYYYYYYY! I love Fourth of July!

I'll try to get some good pictures of camping and the upcoming week (This is a picture of camping LAST summer with my family and Rusty)! I'm hoping it involves some nice cool weather and maybe even a monsoon or two! The sky has been hinting at it, but no drops yet!

About me right now

Well, a few days have gone by, and nothing really miraculous or blogworthy has happened, which is ok with me because it means things are quiet for a bit! Flagstaff is certainly a LOT more vacant in the summer due to all the students going home, so you have to be creative to fill the time! Britni is out of town, Ginger moved away, Rusty is leaving in four days, Jenny and Ben are on vacation, etc etc etc! Still, I feel blessed for all this free time and am trying to use it well! Here's some of what I am up to, even though it's nothing big!

BOOKS I AM READING RIGHT NOW:



Chronicles of Narnia-The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

"Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.
"I'm dying of thirst," said Jill.
"Then drink," said the Lion.
"Will you promise not to-do anything to me if I do come?" said Jill.
"I make no promise," said the Lion.
Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer...
"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.
"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.
"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer.
"I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."

"There is no other stream." said the Lion.

Walking With God by John Eldredge
"We are invited to become followers of Jesus.
Not just believers. Followers. There is a difference."

CLASS THIS WEEK (FRI/SAT):

*functional strength training in physical therapy

UPCOMING VACATIONS:
*camping just outside Flag w/ family this weekend and part of next week

*4TH OF JULYYYYYYY!!!!! (that's not a vacation, but it's my second favorite holiday all year)





*Visalia, CA to see Rusty and his family
*EUROPE BABY (aka "The chronicles of Amanger: Euro 08", "When Europe met Ginganda",
"Eurotrails: sistas with blistas", "Ginger and Amanda's Excellent Euroadventure" etc)
NOTE: Ginger and I have been working on some clever titles for our upcoming excursion
through Europe. Any suggestions would be much appreciated and taken into careful
consideration.

WHAT I DID THIS WEEK SO FAR:


*church picnic








*held worship service at senior home
*sold out and make a Facebook account
*ran
*ate pizza at NiMarco's
*watched the Dbacks blow the Red Sox away!
*watched the Dbacks GET blown away by the Red Sox (boo)
*studied

*saw "Get Smart" with Rusty (it was pretty good)

Mischief Managed

Back to the joys of SUMMER! Last week got a little hectic. I had to actually DO things, like go to 36 hours of class in 4 days, move in, and serve in church ministries... but after taking care of business it is back to
1.sleep
2. eat
3. outside
which is how I like it.


My roommates and I successfully moved in to a new apartment last Friday! The apartment was in the same complex as our old one, just at the other end of the parking lot. This allowed our moving plans to be much less strategic and our transportation plans even LESS strategic, as is exhibited by this photo of Britni and I riding on the outside of Ginger's SUV, holding Britni's bed in place with our less than adequate biceps. It was a fun day, and we had plenty of generous help from our friends! Thanks everyone!



A few days after getting settled in, Ginger, Rusty and myself took a day trip to Beaver Creek near Sedona! A five mile hike into the high desert hills ends in THIS:


It was gorgeous! Arizona is totally tops, I don't know how the next state I live in will ever compare to finding THIS kind of scenery in your backyard ALL the time!

So we swam...

jumped...


and had a picnic, enjoying God's ridiculously creative outdoor playground.


Then we hiked a VERY hot (103) five miles BACK to our car, and ended the day back in Flagstaff with a night softball game! What a day!

As for the rest of the week, I attended two physical therapy seminars and several church events! Rusty and I had a few little movie dates and some time to hang out, which will hopefully increase in this upcoming week ( his last in Flagstaff)! After that, we won't live in the same city again until October. Ugh.

Lastly, I'll have everyone take note of the "Euro-ticker" at the top of this blog site, which currently states that Ginger and I are within ONE MONTH of boarding a plan for Paris and beginning our whirlwind 2008 Euroadventure! Ai ai! Look out France, we're comin for ya!

Been a while...

Attack of summer schoooool!

I swear I'll post something soon.

Pack em up load em out

Tomorrow, my roommates and I are moving to a new apartment, which means that today will be filled with joyous activities such as scrubbing the bathrooms down and filling the NUMEROUS holes in the wall we have created while living in this current apartment! It should actually be mildly enjoyable because my roommate, Britni has the whole day off so we can work on it together and also have each other's company.

I saw Ironman yesterday, which was a surprisingly great movie. I loved it! Funny plus action and not too much gore = great movie for me.

My softball team won our game last night in an unbelievable comeback, scoring 16 runs in the last two innings! Rusty was definitely the slugging hero of the game, hitting two home runs with several people on base each time. He also had some great defensive plays. What a guy! This weekend he is back in California with family and he moves away from Flagstaff permanently in two weeks! I will miss him.

Here are two prayers that have recently come to my attention through books I am reading. I wanted to post them here in case anyone else wants to read them. If my life actually looked anything like either of them, I would be in pretty good shape:

"Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all utterly to Thee to be Thine forever. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Use me as Thou wilt, work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever. Amen."

-Betty Scott Stam

“Teach me, o God, to use all the circumstances of my life today, that they may bring forth in me the fruits of holiness rather than the fruits of sin.

Let me use disappointment as material for patience
Let me use success as material for thankfulness
Let me use trouble as material for perseverance
Let me use danger as material for courage
Let me use praise as material for humility
Let me use pleasure as material for temperance
Let me use pain as material for endurance.”
-Phillip Yancey

Also, here is a link to a short biography on Betty Stam. She was phenomenal.

http://www.traveltheroad.com/missions/missionaries/stam.php

H-O-B-Y that's the way we get down!

As I said in my last post, I finished my leadership experience at HOBY (Hugh O’Brian Youth leadership seminar) in Phoenix on Sunday, and I am now back home in Flagstaff! The seminar was fantastic and actually taught me more than I expected. Here is what I brought away from the week:

1. I DON’T hate high schoolers. I really thought I did. I thought they were all punks like I was, immature, annoying, and basically my feeling about them could be summed up in a roll of the eyes.
God used the kids at HOBY, especially my group of 13 kids (yellow team whoop!), to change that perspective 180 degrees and inspire me to pursue ministry to high school kids at my church or somewhere else in the future. He showed me the impact of mentoring people at that moldable age and what a great need they have to be empowered and led by example. My kids rocked my socks off, and I am thankful for them. Here is a picture of us on our last day!


2. I am old. Ok, ok, not in my own eyes, but somewhere along the way I unknowingly crossed the imaginary line into “official adulthood” and didn’t notice. The kids at HOBY were kind enough to repetitively open my eyes to it.

Exhibit A: My icebreaker question was “Name the last song you listened to on your iPod.” I proceeded to NOT recognize a single song or group that was named around the ENTIRE circle of 13 students.

Exhibit B: I have not seen high school musical. This is apparently a must.

Exhibit C: In another icebreaker game, we had to find someone who liked the same cartoon as us. The blank stares I received when listing “tiny toons, Bobby’s World, Animaniacs, care bears, rainbow brite” said it all.

Exhibit D: There are brand new group line dances that are replacing the “electric slide” and "Macarena" that I have never seen before! I didn’t even know they existed, but all the kids jumped right into them!

Exhibit E: They made jokes about me being “so old” all the time! I mean, WHAT?!?! When did I become an adult in someone’s eyes? I don’t think of myself that way, but apparently they do. At first I thought it would cause challenges because of the disconnect with them, but it turned out to be very powerful because they were willing to teach me how to relate to them, and I could honestly listen and learn! It also gave me great influence in their lives because they respect me much more than someone their own age. Weird realization, though.

3. I value integrity. It is so vital to a person’s character and respectability. I saw great examples of integrity this weekend and not so good ones. It encouraged me to reflect on my own integrity and strive for more of it. More truthfulness, more kindness in my words, more edifying others, less stereotyping, less assumptions, less cutting down and hurting, more service, more purity in mind and purpose.
There are many more small lessons I took away, mostly as seen through the kids’ behavior and example! I feel inspired and renewed in many ways, but tired and like I NEED renewal in others as I return home. I think tomorrow I will finally be caught up on sleep. We slept 2 hours per night for five nights in a row and were with the high schoolers acting crazy for 17 hours a day. What a trip! (This picture was taken before the pool party. The year's theme was "superheroes")

Tonight I am attending a BBQ with my home group Bible study friends, and tomorrow I will finally see Ironman and play softball at night.

I'm alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic

I have survived HOBY (the camp in phoenix for high schoolers).  It was five days of the most extreme sleep depravation my body has ever known.  I will wait many years before having a newborn.  Big round of applause for new moms, you are amazing.  Although tiring, it was rewarding.  I learned a lot and had perceptions changed for the better.  More details to come when I have returned to Flagstaff (still in Phoenix).

The title of this post is a song that we staff would sing with all the campers (one of MANY cheer/songs) to the tune of "If you're happy and you know it" to keep everyone going!  Maybe it will come in handy at 4:30 today for some of you if you're at work.  Be careful though, it gets stuck in your head worse than the Barney song.

Have a great week all, I hope to hear from you each soon! 

One of These Things is Not Like the Other...

Just a few loose end pictures to wrap up from my trip down south! The first picture is Matthew Larson and me. My mom used to nanny for Matt from the time he was born until he was 9 or 10. He is the coolest kid with a terrific head on his shoulders and a surprisingly witty sense of humor for his age. We were real good buds when he was little, so I still want to see him and hang out whenever I make it to Tucson.
This post is entitled "One of these things is not like the other" because that's how it always felt having Matthew be a part of our family, which he really was for those 10 years. He lived at our house many days, slept there half the week, we took him to school, swimming, everything. The thing is, his family is ginormous (mom above 6', dad 6'5ish) and my family is tiny (dad 5'4ish, mom 5'2ish, girls 5'1ish), so it was always like that Sesame Street song that went "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong..." where you had to guess which object was clearly not related to the other three.

Anyway, Matt has certainly been a special part of my life and a little brother for many years. He always belonged. And though this picture wouldn't make you believe it, he still has lots of growing to do! He is only twelve years old, and he is 5'10! Yikes! He is training to play on the 7th grade football team next year. Look out NFL, here he comes!

Here are those Dbacks pictures from our belated Valentine's plans! Dbacks won 4-0, scoring all their points with home runs. There was also one incredible defensive play to end the game in the 9th by Mark Reynolds, who I usually think is a bum, but he really came through that day!
The above picture is me before the game with my glove for foul balls and Dbacks rattler to cheer them on.
The Dbacks giving high 5's after their win
VICTORY!!!
Us

So YOU think you can dance?

Now I'm in Phoenix, slowly making my way back to Flagstaff for a quick two days, after which I will return right back here again! It has been a sweet time here with my sister and Jeff, and I got to "reunite" with Rusty after our ENORMOUS time apart, two weeks. Ha. It's weird how that seemed like a long time since we have spent 8 hours in the classroom every day for two years and lived in next door apartment buildings. We have been blessed to see each other as much as we have. He took me to a D-backs game yesterday, which was my Valentine's day gift from earlier this year! More on that when I upload the pictures. I drive back to Flag in an hour or so, and I'll see some of you then!

The following links are two web videos that I am loving lately. They are both from the show "So You Think You Can Dance", which is a dancing contest show that just started two weeks ago on Fox. These clips are contestant auditions to even be allowed ON the show. The first is a hip hop dancer who is a bit of a contortionist, and the second is a teenage girl who has just got some great moves! I know most people wouldn't usually click on links to watch web videos, but these are worth it, especially the first. Ok, enjoy:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dDCiiQiT7j8

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qwiCg3tk6lY