Sacramento 2008

Make a Smilebox postcard

Hey! My class and I just returned from our 3-day trip to San Francisco and Sacramento. Here are some pics of our trip-we had a great time! I have about 200 more photos, but I thought I'd spare you all and show you a few. Have a great day!

Things I'm thinking about this morning....

My heart is heavy this morning. Perhaps it's the rain. Perhaps it's the stress of end of year activities for me. There's a lot going on in my life, my friend's and families lives, and the world around us. All the disasters, earthquakes, cyclones, etc. have shown how fleeting life is. The other day, my all-time favorite Christian artist Steven Curtis Chapman lost his five year old daughter in a driveway car accident. I'm not sure why, but it has really hit me hard. I think because I have gone about life for so long just "winging it", scampering around, getting the kids here or there, trying to get some time with my husband, going to work and church, and trying to squeeze in extra activities when I can. It's very hard to do all that and still find time to enjoy life and all the blessings that God has for me! So, here's what I'm thinking about today...

~how nice it is to be in my jammies at 1:30 PM on a rainy Saturday
~how blessed I am to have my hubby and my kids-none of them are perfect, but I am overwhelmed by the thought that God saw me worthy enough to care and love them
~what a blessing my job has been-it's had its struggles, but if I had held out for a public school job, I would not be employed right now. I've come to realize that I'm right where God wants me to be
~how amazing my family is-mom, dad, brothers, sisters, kids, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents--all of them are blessings, even though I neglect them!
~how awesome Cocoa Pebbles taste-I'd forgotten!!
~how much I miss my best friends...now they both live in Arizona. Joni has been there for awhile now-we've been friends since high school, and lived apart for most of our friendship, but have managed to stay in touch and be there for each other over the years. I miss her tons, but have gotten used to seeing her once and year and living for those few moments we get together. Cath just recently moved and I miss her tons. I miss hanging out on Fridays, eating brownies, yelling at each other's kids, seeing her at school everyday, and being able to hang out at the drop of a hat. This is a big adjustment for all of us-but I know God has a plan and I'm trusting in that!
~How great our God is-even in heartache, suffering, pain, and loss. Our family has been through a lot of stuff over the last few years-and yet, everytime, God has revealed his greatness and love to me. There has always been a rainbow after the storm. It was mighty stormy there for awhile, but the clouds always lift and God is always faithful.
~I'm grateful for the little things...scrapbooking, baseball, junk TV, Simply Lemonade, happy kids, and time to think and pray. I do love my life, my hubby, my kids, my family, and my friends. And I love my God for giving all of this to me-I pray that I never forget all of these blessings or take them for granted.

Stagecoach 2008!!!!

Ok, so here are the pics (in as much order as possible)....Shannon, our friend Cathi and I drove out on Friday afternoon...

we stopped at the outlets for a few minutes and headed to the concert. We got there just in time to see...
Trisha Yearwood, John Fogerty and Eagles.
We then headed back to the condo. We hung out on Saturday morning, drove the golfcart around, and just enjoyed being lazy.





Around 12, our friend Sherri joined us. We cleaned up and headed out to the concert. We got to see Taylor Swift, Dierks Bentley, the Judds, Rascall Flatts, and more!









Here are some pictures of the crowd-there were people as far as the eye could see...it was unbelievable!









Sunday was another fun filled day (although we got some bad news from home-Shannon's daughter Amber fell in a soccer game and broke her collar bone. We debated for awhile as to whether or not to go home, but my parents were taking care of Amber and she was resting, so we decided to go for awhile and maybe come home a little earlier than usual). Here are some pics from Sunday. We looked like turtles with our back-pack chairs on, but we didn't care cuz those things hold a lot of stuff! :) We got to see Gretchen Wilson, Trace Adkins, and Big & Rich (with Cowboy Troy-the black cowboy-yee-haw!!!)

In the end, it was a super fun weekend and we were all grateful for the time off, the time with friends, and the chance to see some of our favorite performers. Well worth it! :) See you next year at Stagecoach 2009!!!!!!!!!

Stagecoach, here we come!

1 DAY TILL STAGECOACH!!!!!

For those who are curious, Stagecoach is a 3-day country music festival in the middle of the CA desert-Indio. My sister Shannon and I went last year with some friends of ours and had a blast, so we decided to do it again! We're leaving tomorrow afternoon with our friend Cathi (Shan's BFF), staying at a friend's house in Palm Desert and going to sit at the Polo Fields all day, enjoying some of our favorite country music. We are so excited! Here are some pics of last year's trip....

Yeah, that's us with Sean Parr and Robin Banks from Go Country 105. Yeee hawww!!!

1 day to go!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woooooo Hooooooo!!!!