Hiking... sort of :)

Christina has really started getting out and hiking. I've just sort of started this weekend. She had a bowenworks treatment Friday and was told to not do much the next day. :(  So we went to Oxbow Park and walked down to the Sandy River and enjoyed some peace and quiet. It was cloudy and cool so there weren't very many people there. There was no one where we were so it was very nice!! And we got rain this weekend! Yea!! :)  It's the first substantial rain since the first part of May I believe. And then the heat is back this week.  Oh and apparently an interest in the weather runs in the gene's according to another one of my cousins. So I came by it quite naturally. :)

Lots and lots of moss. :)

Visitors, Gorge pictures

My aunt and cousin visited Thursday and we had an awesome time going up to the Vista House and then continued down the road to Multnomah Falls. While we were visiting Friday evening I realized that a laugh is genetic, at least mine is! My cousin and I have amazingly similar laughs! And I have been told quite a few times that I have a unique laugh. Even more interesting is there were several times we said things at the same time. And this is a cousin I have been around very little. Our family's visited when she was quite young but not since then. It's amazing how strong genetics can be! If only she didn't live so far away!! It's was wonderful to get to know her a little bit and to see my aunt face to face again!

A panorama from the Vista House. The left side is towards Portland.

The Vista House in the Columbia Gorge. The front steps of this place will get hurricane force winds in the winter time due to east winds coming through the Gorge. It's gotten to 120 mph I believe.

One of the falls along the Old Columbia Highway

Multnomah Falls- It's been a very, very dry year and there's not much water.

The bottom part of the falls taken from the bridge that's in the picture above.

The top of the falls

Christina, Auntie and our cousin

Apology

I have no way of knowing if Dave reads this but just in case I'm going to post this as I have no other way of communicating this!

This morning I've really felt a need to apologize for all that you had to put up with. We heard about justifying yesterday and how easy it is to do, I now find myself trying to do exactly that as I type! There's no justification for what I've done, for my attitudes. In K-Falls, in Portland. As a wife I needed to be putting your needs first and I know that that didn't happen. The last couple of years I worked on it but it was much too late then! I do appreciate the insight these last several years have given me into myself. I don't know when I'll be able to apologize face to face. But I do hope that day will come eventually. Meanwhile please know that I'm truly sorry for all that you had to put up with! Your in my thoughts and prayers each day.

Thankfulness

I'm so thankful for all that we have naturally and spiritually. It's been made real to me that there are those that are in a lot worse shape then me!! I have a Father that has provided for us. I've been very lucky to have wonderful support of some very awesome friends and of family. I'm thankful that it has given me an appreciation for what others go through. An appreciation for the rough patches of life. It helps me to have compassion where I may not have had compassion before, simply because there wasn't a true understanding. The greatest understanding comes with experience and that experience sure can be tough!! Then there's the wonderful experiences! Grandkids! I love it when I visit them or they come to my place and you get greeted with a big hug! It's so awesome!! And my kitties. They're getting elderly but you'd never know it! They're 11 and 12 now. Pippy desperately wanted me to take him out today so I did. He was such a happy guy! He doesn't stay out for long, he does such a wonderful job of just staying in the backyard. It was pretty funny watching him try and catch a big as it was flying!

Mia can be quite the love! 

Bugs....

So, you know those bugs that can turn up in flour and chew their way through plastic? Well it turns out that they like sand as well!!! :(  I had, key word had, one of those things that you can warm up and then put on wherever needs some relaxing. This particular one apparently was filled with sand. I've had a problem for a little bit but couldn't figure out why. This evening I went digging in my closet and found this thing full of those bugs. YUCK!!!! Who would have thought that they'd like sand??? I guess since we no longer have the flour they had to find something!! It's all cleaned up and outside in the trash but I'm sure they'll pop up here and there since they can fly.

Big time YUCK!!!!

This is where they chewed into the plastic lid that the bag was sitting on. Those little white pits are from the bugs!

Necessities

It's very hard to not let my business take over my life!!! It has been unbelievably busy this last month. I'm much, much closer to having everyone caught up, which is actually quite exciting!! But it's left me knowing that I haven't spent the time I needed to with my Father. So the last couple of days things that are necessary have come to me. The word of my Father is necessary to live. It's not just natural bread we need but spiritual as well. The other I've been thinking of this morning is faith. Some sought to serve by the law but lost out because it wasn't by faith. Simply trust all to Him. Not asking why. Serving by faith means simplistic obedience. Which leads to another necessity, giving my own will up. And to be quite honest that's where my biggest struggle is! I can't be truly obedient unless my own will isn't involved. That 'but what about what I want' nature is so strong but if that's what rules, the end will be 'oh, why wasn't I willing to give up my will?'. It's interesting how even knowing that, it's a tremendous struggle to not let my own will rule. 

Now to work for the day. And then a day off with meetings and fellowship! Yea!!!

Thoughts

I'm so thankful for my Father's mercy. As I observe all that goes on around me it makes me thankful for the peace and assurance that can be found in the midst of the chaos. There are some very impatient people out there and it seems like I have witnessed more close calls with people's driving then normal the last week or so. Life isn't about how fast we can get from one place to another but that seems to be more and more what happens. And it seems to be more and more about what makes ME happy. That's NOT what life is about. It's about my soul being happy (content), it's about letting my Father guide me. It's amazing the peace that can be found when I'm willing for that! It sure isn't easy though! This week has been a test in patience due to talking to a couple of customer service people. Didn't really get much resolved in either case. :(  But i apparently need a computer in the next couple of months. Grrr!! Let's keep the fingers crossed it last that long! I do have this bad tendency to have computers do things that have the poor computer guys shaking their head in bafflement.

And a cool down is coming!! Yea!! The next several days will be in the 70's so it will be nice to not have to worry about cooling the house off at night!

Getting there!

Its been quite the time trying to get all my clients caught up after the chaos of April and May but I can now see some light at the end of the tunnel! I've met with a couple of the new clients from my buyout. One I've been to see three times now and I think it'll be fine. It's been a new type of client (property management) and a new software to learn but I do enjoy new challenges. This month will really be the telling point of how it goes. Busy and exciting times!

On a weather note, this summer has been crazy! We've now had 7 days in a row of 90+ degree weather and it would have been more then that if it hadn't been for an 85* day last week. Typically we'll have 4, maybe 5 days in a row of 90+ but not this year! They're calling for at least through Wednesday so that would make 11 days in a row! On average we receive 13 days of 90+ all summer long! At least the garden is loving it! I've picked 3 cucumbers already. And we're acclimatizing to it.