Ahoy!

My nephew went to a contest this past weekend.

Isn't this the cutest little pirate you've ever seen?

From one extreme to the next!

Cute & Grumpy!

Pirates have mommies too!

Smelly Fire

My families houses in San Diego are still standing, Thank God! They are watching the fire closely and hoping it doesn't jump the freeway, which is between their house and the fire. Things are looking up for them.

I am very sad for those that lost their homes and those that have lost their lives. I can't imagine if I was in the position to lose my home. I pray that things work out for them in these next few weeks.

I am so proud of our firemen and emergency workers! What heroes they are! Some getting a mere 3 hours of sleep since Sunday?!? Can you imagine?

I am headed off to a restful weekend. I have a Bible study to attend this evening and then I am going to put my feet up and relax with Cubicle Next Door. This has been one long long week, I'm so glad it's nearly over.

More on Fire

I have yet to listen to the news this morning, but as of last night things were looking pretty bad. The smoke was not as overbearing this morning, this is good. We are now walking through ash in the air, 20 minutes away from the Irvine fire.

I heard yesterday that this is the largest evacuation in the nation since the civil war! 900'000 people have been evacuated in Southern California. I also heard that the damage is worse. than Katrina.

As of last night, my family still has their home in San Diego. Thank God!

Just watching and waiting... thank you for your prayers!

Southern California Fires

I'm sure you've heard, Southern California is in a state of emergency. My family in San Diego has been evacuated and I believe they may lose their homes. Please pray for them.

I live about 20 minutes from one of the fires in Irvine; I attend church in Irvine. I get to the church by 5:00-5:30 on Sunday evenings for music practice. The skies were pretty clear and the air was clean. By the time we were about done with service, close to 10:00 PM. the smell of fire overwhelmed us in the building. I walked outside to find smoke so thick it hurt to open your eyes or breathe.

Today my throat is dry and scratchy, my eyes are hurting and it's just plain miserable. It doesn't look like things are getting better. I was supposed to be at prayer this evening, but it has been cancelled due to the weather and traffic from the fire. Pray that it will end soon and there will be minimal homes burnt and no injuries.

Happy Belated Birthday Catherine!

My sister's birthday was yesterday, she turned 32. We went to the Citrus Grille at the Orange Circle on Saturday. (I have pictures to post later.)



My sister is my best friend, roommate, partner in crime, and so many other things. We work together, live together... I don't think there is anything we don't do together. Sometimes we pull each others hair our, more then sometimes recently, lol! And sometimes we get along great. We have different taste in clothing, this is just one of the many differences.

There is a 7 1/2 year gap between us, this used to be odd when I was a young teenager, but by the time I got into high school the gap wasn't noticed as much.

About her:

• She is on her way to making a CD. She starts recording this weekend.


• She loves the Lakers, Angels, and UFC


• She loves shoes


• She loves to go out


• She loves Lobster Bisque


• She is very giving

Introducing Myself to Siri L. Mitchell

I zipped right through this book. At first, reading was difficult since it was written in first person. I almost put it down after a couple of pages because it made me think too hard and I wasn't in the mood.

I'M SO GLAD I STUCK WITH IT. The book started off great, just the first person struggle, and it ended unbelievably wonderful!

This is my new favorite contemporary Christian Fiction! I loved loved loved it! I couldn't put it down, I read it on the way to work (I carpool), during lunch, after work and sat on the couch and read until I finished. Needless to say, I didn't get much done at home... or at work.

I was so drawn into the characters, Claire and Adrien. I loved how there were not many characters to get to know. Mainly just these two. Everything was about them and not other people. They were not perfect, like some characters in other christian books, they were relatable. I knew them, well Claire that is, Adrien was French and not too relatable, but who cares, again, he was French.

It was a sweet, romantic, funny, and very real. I loved it when Adrien told Claire that she was a snob. She said she believed God was omnipresent but there were places he wouldn't be at, such as a bar, a club... She looked down on people with sin without realizing she was doing it. Adrien had some good comebacks, but as we know anything can be argued. In France he could have been right, but in America it's another story. You'll just have to red it to draw your own conclusions.

I would recommend this book to anyone.. as a matter of fact, if you haven't read it, go here and buy it. Christianbook.com should give me some free books for this. =)

~~~~~~~

I read Moon Over Tokyo in one day. I read it on the way to work and when I got home in the evening I stayed on the couch until I finished. I really liked it.

I feel like I've taken a trip to Tokyo, stayed in Hiroo, visited the church, got confused on the subway, wrote a tiring novel, and... met Eric.

Very sweet.

Pay attention Christianbook.com, I'm doing it again, if you haven't read this, click here.

Happy Birthday Dad!

at my older brother's wedding, drinking iced tea having a good ol' time!

Yesterday, October 16th, was my Dad's birthday.

He is 57 years young.

What a whirlwind of a year for him and my whole family! A lot has happened for the good.

My Dad was always involved in my childhood and teenage years. He takes us on the best vacations, Death Valley in the winter and Tahoe, Mammoth, Eureka in the Summer.

He loves surprises, especially at Christmas. He still, to this day, can't sleep Christmas Eve; he gets so antsy and can't wait to see our faces when we open gifts from him.

My Dad loves practical jokes. When we were kids, he told us about how he used to walk in his sleep. That night after my parents went to bed, my siblings and I were watching a movie. Next thing we knew, my dad was walking in the room, eyes glazed over and just walking around. We jumped up and got our mom, "Dad's sleep walking!". We carefully guided him down the hall back to his room while we whispered at each other not to wake him up. He got to the end of the hall and started doing a jigg. LOL! Yeah, we fell for it.

These are just a few things I love about him! Happy Belated Birthday Dad!

Work Work Work

I have been so overwhelmed with work!

I am doing enough work for three people at this point and it's driving me crazy.

Business is booming so bad that work is hanging off my desk. LOL! I am not kidding, literally hanging. My inbox is about to break from the pressure... don't believe me? see the pictures below.

1st inbox and bookcase

2nd in boxes and emails unanswered

I work on records for legal cases. The amount of paper work I go through each day is mind boggling. I came in on Saturday and tried to catch up and made some headway.

I say all this not to complain, just to vent. Yet as I write this, I feel petty. I am so blessed to have a job. Having these piles makes me think that the work is never ending. I believe this to be a good thing since I know that I am needed. Now that feels good!

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.

Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out

Deut 28:1-7

One more thing Lord, bless me with an assistant... or another one that is.

The Guy I'm Not Dating

I was home sick on Thursday, stuck in bed with a 24 hour bug and a busted ankle. This gave me the time to read The Guy I'm Not Dating, a novel by Trish Perry.

I had a really hard time getting into this book. There were parts that were hilarious; It is rare for me to laugh out loud in a book and this one accomplished that. Unfortunately, I didn't connect very well with the characters.

There were so many characters and the main characters were not as interesting as the pets and an old lady named Addy. She was a riot!

I would suggest this book to someone looking to laugh and just read a lighthearted novel. If you're romantic and looking for that, this wasn't too strong in that area.

I did it again!

I was at a ladies get together at my church on Monday night. We had to wear mask and the person with the best mask won a prize. I decided to fight my fears and don a cat. Ha!


My older sister and I

I was throwing away some trash and the ladies were getting ready to play some games. I somehow missed a step and crashed... really crashed.


Back in April, this same thing happened while I was stepping off a curb, (see post here). I was with my sister-in-law and it was after midnight. Now, before I go on, my sister-in-law is very helpful and wonderful and sweet, she just wasn't that night, I still love you Sony. We were parked on the street and I stepped down to help her with some bags and landed on the side of my ankle. The pain was excruciating. I didn't know what to do but scream. It turned into hysterics because my sister-in-law begin to laugh and say "your fine" and of course I knew I wasn't. It felt like my ankle ripped off. I smacked her in the face thinking maybe she needed to snap out of it. Needless to say, she wasn't to happy. I then begin to scream "Jesus, Help Me", thinking maybe He would come down and offer His help since my sister-in-law wasn't offering much.


She dialed for help and left a message hoping someone would hear it, "help us, Deborah needs help!!"... too bad it was someones cell phone voicemail! I ignored her and grabbed my phone and begin dialing for help. Finally someone came out and they carried me in. That had to be one of the worst nights. The pain was so bad, the noises coming from my ankle and the feeling of wanting to pass out and vomit at the same time.


Well... I did it again on Monday night. Except this time, there was a room full of women and my sister-in-law was helpful. All I could do was try to breathe and not pass out. I felt my stomach begin to heave and knew that this could get ugly. Once I caught a breath I begin to say "Jesus, Jesus" and telling people to stop touching me. For me, when someone touches me and not me them, it hurts more. I had my head in my pastor's wife's lap for a few minutes and finally got myself up into a chair.

That wasn't the end. I begin to shake and my teeth begin to chatter. I was a mess. My ankle and leg blew up and begin to darken. Someone gave me a Vicodin and within minutes I was laughing and carrying on. LOL!


I had to hobble on crutches and my walking cast from my previous accident.


I refused every ones offer to call a paramedic and go to the hospital. There was no way I was paying those Hospital bills again.


The next morning I tried to get out of bed and my ankle wouldn't work. I went in for x-rays and was told that it looked broken. Once the films came back they showed no fracture. It was a bad rip. just like before.


Now, you might think I am over exaggerating with this pain talk, but the hospital told me that the pain from a ripped ligament and tendon is worse then a break.


I am upset that I am back in a walking cast and crutches after being off them for a couple of months. I do not like depending on people and this injury makes me ask for so many things.


Anyway, I will live.


Lesson learned: Always look before stepping down. Or... Remove ankles from body to avoid future accidents.





Picture of my sad swollen ankle/foot/leg.

-HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER-

I love you Pedo! You are an awesome brother and friend!

Today is my older brothers 26th birthday. We celebrated his birthday on Saturday with some friends at the Irvine bowling alley.

I am not much of a bowler, unless gutter balls count, so I opted out and instead decided to play with, Madison, a friends baby.

After bowling we headed over to TGIF by South Coast Plaza. Fun Fun Fun time! Below are some pictures...

Katybug's Fault...It's a Good Fault

Yes it is her fault, a good fault (if there is such a thing). After reading her latest post about her love for Christian fiction and romance, she got me thinking. That is dangerous since I am sitting here with loads of work on my desk and I can only daydream about my favorite books and the characters and stories and how much I love them!

My all time favorite book has changed in the last few years after the market has opened up with some great authors.

I used to be devoted to Janette Oke's Roses For Mama, it is still my favorite book of hers. I then moved on to Lori Wick's, Where the Wild Rose Blooms. I have stuck with this and it is still my favorite one of hers and on my top five.

I was walking through Wal-mart's book section and I looked down and saw this...

Interesting cover... I decided to buy it. This is not normal for me. I do not usually pick up books from authors I don't know.

Next thing I know I am writing an email to the author Deeanne Gist, gushing about Bride. She replied and directed me to her blog. This whole blogging thing was a new experience as well, I must have been out of the loop.

Dee came out with another unbelievable book, Measure of a Lady. I fell in love all over again.

Deeanne set up chat room and assigned me as a moderator, which I love doing, along with some other awesome Dee fans.

I have gotten great suggestions on books to read from the chat room, one being Tamera Alexander's series, Fountain Creek Chronicles.

I said all that to say this, My top five Christian Fiction is:
(in no particular order)

1. Where the Wild Rose Blooms - Lori Wick



2. Bride Most Begrudging - Deeanne Gist



3. Measure of a Lady - Deeanne Gist



4. Courting Trouble - Deeanne Gist



5. Revealed - Tamera Alexander
   

What are your top five?

Tell me, I want to know what I'm missing out on....

Wait and See

I've written before about my mom's pituitary tumor and want to share an update, excuse my lack of knowing the name of the treatments and type of tumor, names are too long to remember.

In August my mom started on shots, twice a day in hopes that it will shrink this golf ball sized tumor that is near the center of her brain. She started with two shots per day; these shots have the same feeling at a Tetanus shot, we all know how this feels. Fortunately, she doesn't have to give these to herself, my dad has taken over that job. Twice she has had to give the shot to herself and both times were very hard on her.

A couple of weeks ago the dose was upped to three times a day, morning, afternoon, and night. Sometimes she gets sick, sometimes it hurts, and on most days she only feels it on one shot. This treatment was decided on after a patient with the same tumor at UCLA Medical Center had success with shrinking the tumor after taking these treatments. The tumor is so rare that less than 1% of all people with pituitary tumors have this kind. We were told that if a surgeon saw one of these tumors during his entire career it would be a big deal. This is why the treatment is unknown and all at chance.

She has about three more weeks to go until the doctors determine how they want to proceed. We are believing God for a miracle. He hand is all over this situation, we can only sit and wait upon the Lord.

Silly Emma

I had to share these photos...

After Church on Sunday, we were waiting at a light and next to us a truck pulled up. We looked over and saw this...

The munchkins name is Emma. She may look like she is old enough to look out the window, but her little legs are probably 8-10" long, LOL! She is only seven months and has a huge personality!

She was holding on while her mom was trying to pull her back inside. The more we laughed the more she grinned.

I'm sorry for all the switching in the backgrounds and pictures of my blog... This is the fifth or sixth picture I've tried in the last couple of days. I can't seem to find something that I like. I think this Fall themse might work... Who knows though, I may start missing my parisian photos.

Fall and other stuff

I love Fall! Everything about about it!

I love the change of leaves (as much as we have here)
The smell of the upcoming holidays
The crisp air
Warm fires and Hot Cocoa
Snugly sweaters
Family gatherings

I love it all! I can't wait until Fall really hits.

I took some pictures on the way home from shopping this weekend. We had serious rainfall on Friday night and Saturday. The sky was clearing and the beautiful cloud formations were all around us...

Now to go off the subject of fall, the pictures below are from church Sunday night. These are the cutest Snow Balls ever! Even better then Hostess...



Now to go off the subject even more, we started our session on Thursday for our kids departments, KidzNet. I am a teacher for the 10 & 11 year-olds. These are the greatest kids! Our session is about On The Farm. All about Life Principles for Kids. I will be posting pictures of my "kids" next week.

He is full of Grace and Mercy

This video is incredible.

Big Bear, CA

This past weekend we took a little trip to our house in Big Bear, CA. It has been years since my family has gone up there together.

The guys were going to do some landscaping so the girls decided to tag along. We made sure that we showed up after all the work was done... convenient and not coincidental.

Big Bear is about 2 1/2 hours from our house, not too bad. We left immediately after work and got up there in time to meet everyone for dinner at the Evergreen. It's a cute little restaurant across from the lake in the village. The inside looks like a log cabin and decorated how an eccentric Grandma would decorate. The food was very very good and so pretty.

After dinner we went back to our house, which we call our "cabin", and found out that we all had to sleep on the floor, with the exception of my parents, since the beds were covered with stuff from the new carpet going in. I am just too old to be sleeping on the hard floor... I didn't get much sleep, not fully due to the floor though... I woke up with my sister-in-laws sixteen year-old nephew needing to cuddle. We all laughed all night and had some funny stories in the morning.

We had boat reservations for the day on the lake. After dinner the night before we grabbed some buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken and put them in the fridge for lunch on the boat. As kids, my parents did this with us, cold chicken on Big Bear Lake. I was looking forward to this part of out trip! Unfortunately we had to cancel the reservations. The winds were so bad and a fire was coming over the mountains.

This fire started on Friday and by midday Saturday it was coming over the mountains and a mandatory evacuation was called for the north side of the lake. After doing some shopping we decided to head down the mountain... We made it just in time. All the evacuees were coming onto the south side of the lake and heading for the High School to hold up.

We headed down the mountain and stopped and a little area where we used to vacation with our church when I was a little girl, The Millers Cabin. It is along side the Santa Ana River, so beautiful and peaceful. We pulled out our cold chicken and ate as we sat by the river.

Miller's Cabin

River and My Older Siblings


My Sister and I, The clan

It was a great, short weekend. Fire and cuddlers included. LOL!

God Bless America - 9-11-01

Today is a day to remember lives lost, new beginnings, and the value of a life we live.

God Bless America Today and Always!

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

Appreciation

I just want to show Him my appreciation...

This is a picture of my Pastor's son who is ten-years old; this was in last weeks service. Like him, God moved on me at a young age.

I can't seem to get this scripture out of my head...

Psalms 116:12 - What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?

God has restored so much these past couple of weeks and has made so many changes. My soul is so thankful for His goodness that I feel I will burst!

I am an Apostolic and I believe what the Bible says through and through. I was born into this Faith and raised in a great church, the greatest in my opinion! I learned about God at a young age, so young in fact that I can't remember a moment that I didn't know about Him. My most vivid and first memories are of church services and church family. I received the Holy Ghost and was Baptized in Jesus Name when I was ten years-old.

God has kept me through all my teenage years and into my adult life. I am so glad to say that I have been enveloped in this Faith and have never left it and never will.

This life is without a doubt the best life to live. I know who He is, He knows who I am. He knows my downfalls, my insecurities, my limitations, yet He still loves me and calls me His.

The benefits he has bestowed on me are undeserved yet so appreciated.

I love Him so.

Labor Day Weekend & Bad Weather

It has been scorching hot in California! Our normally perfect weather is not so perfect and miserable. This is the kind of weather we call "earthquake weather". We haven't had a big earthquake in years, so we're waiting for it to hit... at least I am =). We did have one on Sunday that shook the rooms around and an aftershock the following day... but it was too small to do anything.

Tornado warnings were being set in Los Angeles... I told you the weather was crazy. One did hit down in the Mojave Desert, nowhere near me Thank God!

I did capture this beautiful sunset in front of my house on Saturday. Even though the weather made you miserable, looking at this sunset gave you a moment of serenity. I do know without the weather, this sunset would probably not be this beautiful!

On Labor Day, we were trying to cool off in the pool and saw this butterfly bathing in the sun. No matter how close I got it didn't flinch. I think I was more scared of it than it was of me... Don't ask me why, the beautiful thing below just gave me the heeby-jeebys (is that a word?).

~Fun in the Sun~

I love love love the beach. Whether it be Winter or Summer, the smells and sights, there's nothing like it.

My pastor's son had his sixteenth birthday party on Saturday at the beach. We ate, went swimming, had food fights, and roasted marshmellows by the fire. Lotsa fun!

One of the little girls, Eden, watched the sun setting and said, "the sun got a boo boo and fell down." She was shocked to see another "sun" in the sky. I explained that it was not a sun but a moon. She didn't quite get it so I said, when the sun goes night night, the moon wakes up. Her eyes lit up and I knew she got it that time. LOL - kids say the funniest things!

Enjoy pics of a fun day in California...

(top or right) Eden Jolie (bottom or left) Eden and Big sis, Jade

(right or top) My older brother and sister-in-law (left or bottom) My Pastor chucking hot dogs