It's a Jungle Out There

Or a rain forest to be exact! We ate at the Rainforest Cafe in Ontario on Friday. We love the Rainforest Cafe, but don't have one in San Diego. We've eaten at several, including the ones at Disney, Phoenix, and Sacramento. Sad to say though, the Leapin' Lizard Lettuce Wraps have changed and aren't as good as they used to be. Enjoyed the Lava Cake though!

Ally and I took a trip to Ontario (California, not to be confused with Canada) to Dylan's farewell party. He leaves for Navy bootcamp on October 5. We stayed overnight at the Double Tree, shopped, and got to see Frank & Thelma Robinson and Tim & Lisa Kirkes (and boys) as well as Dylan's family. Had a lot of fun catching up with everyone. Ontario Mills mall is incredible. Ally and I shopped there twice and still only saw half the mall.

Ally's first day running again will be today. Hopefully she'll be able to do just a mile and see how it goes. She'll have to work her way back up to six miles. She has a race on Saturday, don't know if the coach will have her run or not. She also goes to retreat for three days starting tomorrow, which means more sleep for me! And less running around. Chris and I might go to a movie on Wednesday. Chris wants to do the San Diego Mud Run (5k) with Ally on his birthday, November 22, but after looking at the muddy water pics, she doesn't want to do it. I agree -- running with soggy, wet, muddy shoes and socks? Ick.

I should not have waited so long between posts -- lots going on. Thursday evening everything came together to blow up at once. I was at volleyball so I wasn't answering my phone. Ally was at youth group waiting to be picked up by Chris. Her phone was almost dead. Chris got up to get Ally then go to work, and the government car (brand new Explorer) wouldn't start. He thinks too many radios and gadgets draining the battery. He tried to get a jump -- three "no's." One guy acted like he only spoke Spanish, when Chris started talking to him in Spanish, he acted like he didn't understand that either. HA HA!

So Chris tries to call Amy to come get him, and someone answers speaking in Spanish. Chris thinks the guy either has Amy's phone or also Amy, so he calls me -- at which point I finally answer the phone -- and tells me to call Verizon and cancel Amy's service. Turns out that the phone lines just got crossed somehow and Amy's phone wasn't stolen (and she wasn't kidnapped). Meanwhile, though, I've cancelled the service on Amy's phone and am trying to get Ally to get a ride home... it was a big mess and Chris lost it... but we all made up now:) Poor Amy couldn't get ahold of anyone because her phone wouldn't work. Chris was starting to panic, thinking someone had her.

Chris is glad to get rid of the new government car. They traded it for a gold Crown Victoria while the Explorer is getting checked out. I said the new car looks like a "pimp mobile" or something... but he's happy not to have to worry about something happening to the brand new car.

This Sunday is Ally's birthday party at Santee Lakes. It's pretty much open to anyone -- having a BBQ and she might go on the pedal boats as well. She invited friends from school, the cross country team, friends from church, and posted it on her Facebook.... so who knows who is going to show up.

I haven't been eating that well, so haven't lost any of the last ten pounds. Back on track today. We are breaking down and getting a DVR so we can watch TV shows and fast forward through the commercials, etc. I don't watch much TV, but Chris and Ally wanted it. It's only $5 a month, so I caved.

Haven't heard back from my traffic ticket appeal and the payment was due within 30 days, so I might have to call there in the next couple days and see what's what.

I Scrap, Therefore I Am!

I worked this week on these two scrapbook pages from photos taken over the summer. I have a few more pages to do, then I'll be caught up.

I made this French Toast Bake for breakfast this week... very tasty!


And I scanned in some older pics to post on Facebook of my Navy days. Gotta love the glasses! The last pic is me and my dad before the Memorial Day parade, and Chris and I at the end of our enlistments.



Ally is still recovering from her injured ankle and won't race tomorrow. She needs to have a good rest before trying to run again. She ran three miles her first day back and it was not good.

Had Bible study tonight. The Holy Spirit is awesome! Who knew He did so much! I had two pages of notes on the things He does and each line was a different thing. I am just amazed at how the Spirit was before creation (hovering), inspired the Word, and then reveals through the Word, and even searches God and knows what to pray for us. AMAZING! One author said He takes our ignorance and changes it to wisdom. I thought to myself, I should be pretty wisdomous then! Lol!

Tough Break

Ally injured her ankle slipping off a curb at cross country practice, so she was out for the week. She couldn't race on Saturday, but we did go to support the team (although we went around 9 a.m. instead of 7 a.m. since she wasn't racing). It was a hot, long day -- but she had fun. It's supposed to be in the hundreds this coming week... bummer, I thought summer was over...

Ally's friend's sister got a bunny for a pet, so Ally has read all about them and was listing all the great things about owning a bunny today... I told her the cats would eat them, so that's not going to happen... I think she's waiting now for the cats to die. Poor things. The bunny was cute!



We went to see friends today who are leaving to plant a Wesleyan church in Texas near Dallas. It was good to see lots of friends I haven't seen in awhile. Didn't stay too long, Chris had to get some sleep.

Watched most of the Charger game... it ended badly, that's all we can say.

Ally and I are heading up to Ontario (CA) this weekend to attend a party for our friend who's going into the Navy and leaves for bootcamp on October 5. We are staying a night at the Double Tree and will shop at Ontario Mills (a ginormous mall). The mall is so large it has two of some stores... I'm sure I'll be able to find a Starbucks in there somewhere:)

Lovin' From the Oven!

I've been doing good on my goal to fix a good breakfast on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. So far I've made hashbrown casserole, croissants, cinnamon rolls, pancakes, waffles with fruit, and this egg casserole which included bacon, eggs, and cheese. Why this particular photo turned out so tiny -- I have no clue.

Tomorrow it's sausage, gravy, and biscuits. Next week I try French toast casserole. Granted it's not all from scratch (some is), but it fills the tummy! Since Ally has to be to school an hour earlier this year and has cross country practice after school, I had to do something to get her off to a good start. Chris gets home from work about the time we get up, so he's happy to have some hot food waiting, too. Amy also is up early on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so she usually eats before college classes, and tomorrow her friends might stop in to grab something on the way. The only bad thing is getting up by 6 a.m., sometimes at 5 a.m. if I need to stick something in the oven...

We have an AWESOME women's Bible study going on right now on the subject of prayer. And I'm not just saying that because I'm co-leading it:) We are learning so much about faith, prayer, and God. My faith is increasing daily -- not that I will get what I pray for, but that God will answer in His way and He will be glorified! Women are stepping out of their comfort zone and praying -- it is WONDERFUL!!!!

I printed out 19 pages (12 x 12) of scrapbooking I had been working on over several months. Still have a few more to print, but need to order more paper and another cartridge.

Looking forward to volleyball tomorrow and I must get some cleaning done this weekend -- I can't put it off any longer. Cleanliness is next to Godliness... oh, wait that isn't in the Bible (thank goodness!).

Picture Perfect

I borrowed Amy's nice camera that we got her last year for Christmas to take some photos at Ally's country meet in Escondido this weekend. I found some really cute photos on Amy's camera, so I took a few to post here. Two of them are from the San Diego Zoo and one might be from the lake across from the house. Nice photo of the snake eating a rat?!




Amy and I went shopping to pick up a couple clothing items for her later on Saturday. I finally bought a pair of jeans and a shirt. Usually I get so frustrated trying on stuff, I end up getting nothing. I don't really like shopping for clothes for myself -- it seems like the stuff looks good on the hanger then weird on me... ha! I just like comfy for the most part. I did buy a pair of skinny jeans for the first time and a shirt with tiny anchors on it. Amy and I ate at the Olive Garden and then I had a Starbucks Caramel Frap Light on the way home. Tasty!

Ally missed a medal this week by four places. I think six people on the team ended up with medals. She wasn't too bummed, I don't know if she even expected to get that close. She'll do better during the races where it's divided by grade, so that she's racing only against sophomores.





My boss is gone on a fishing trip all next week. Have some things to take care of, but should be a pretty casual week -- yay! Haven't been eating all that well, need to buckle down tomorrow to get that last 10 pounds off.

Had lunch at Frubble today with friends from years gone by. The food wasn't that impressive, but the Frubble smoothie drink was good and the fellowship was great! It's fun staying in touch with people on Facebook -- that's where we reconnected with one of the friends, and stay in touch with the others.

Ally's got all of her homework pretty much finished up for Tuesday, so tomorrow will be chores for her and I think she has a Systematic Theology assignment to work on. It's a college textbook, so I'm sure that will take some brain power.

Back to the Books

Ally's first day of school was Tuesday. She has a full schedule this year, which means school starts at 7:40 a.m. instead of 8:30 a.m. She gets out at 3:30 p.m., but she has Cross Country practice every weekday at the school beginning at 4 p.m. She had a fit because a freshman showed up wearing the same shirt, so Ally borrowed a camisole from someone, unbuttoned the shirt, and wore it as a jacket with the sleeves rolled down so it wouldn't look the same. God forbid you be wearing the same shirt as someone else! Oh, and she already forgot some books, and we had to drive all the way back to the school at 6 p.m., fortunately the books were still laying there on the picnic table, all by their lonesome.


Since Chris is off mid-week, he's been taking her to school, and I (so far) have been getting up and making a good breakfast for everyone, including Amy since she has classes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. That's my goal -- don't know if it will keep up. I don't have to be at work until 9 a.m., so when Chris and Ally leave at 7 a.m., I usually sleep for another hour. Ally homeschools on Monday and Friday, so that's only our schedule for Tuesday through Wednesday, but she still has practice on Mondays and Fridays, then meets on the weekends. What I'm trying to say is we are trying to get on something of a schedule, but it's ever changing!

Amy backed into a car at the mall a few days ago. Didn't do much to our van, it already had some scratches on the bumper, but it did some damage to the driver rear side of the lady's car. Amy finally found the insurance card in the glove compartment and didn't get much info from the lady, or even know what kind of car it was. She was all flustered, but I did manage to tell her to get the lady's name and phone number. I called our insurance company to let them know. The said the info was fine. Amy said there was some scratches and a possible bend or dent on the bumper of the other car.

Tonight I start co-teaching a lady's Bible study called, "Becoming a Woman of Prayer." It is about 10 weeks, every Wednesday evening. Looking forward to it -- can always use help in that area! One of the neatest things from the first lesson is how the purpose of prayer should always be that God would be glorified. Through praise (of course) and also when we are asking for healings, health, needs, etc. -- it should be not for our selfish reasons, but so that God will be glorified (John 14:13). Food for thought.

The Power of the Ponytail

Go Ally!

Cross Country season has officially started! The first meet was at Lindo Lake in Lakeside. Walk out our door, cross the street, and we are there... sure beats some of those long drives to meets throughout the season.

This race was almost two miles. Ally did good -- she said she didn't hold back and gave it all she had. She was feeling sick on Sunday. I think all the running in the heat has caught up. There is a practice scheduled tomorrow, but since it's Labor Day, and we still have a few things to get for school, she probably won't make it to practice.

We are pretty much finished up with the supply shopping and clothes. We had her back to school meeting and met all the teachers, went to all the classes, and all that wonderful stuff that I can't wait to do each year. We followed a shortened class schedule, with bells. The bell was so loud I almost punched someone when I was standing right under it and it went off. In another of her classes I was sitting by a pipe and everytime the toilet flushed, you could hear it... ha!

Had a great week... Chris and I went out for sushi and ran into my boss. We had an "impromptu business dinner," and he paid for ours. That was nice. Then I got a bonus the next day also. That will help pay for Ally and my tickets to Michigan in November. I was telling this to my sister, Kathy, and she said "Your boss buys you dinner and gives you a bonus; my boss gave me the leftover carrots and celery out of his lunch yesterday." I laughed my head off at that and so did my boss when I told him.

Took a long nap today and am getting ready for a hectic schedule starting on Tuesday. Drove down to Mariner's Point and took a few more pics to appeal my parking ticket. We'll see how that goes.

It's a little cooler today -- about 87 degrees. I hope the heat wave is over. We are sick of it... SICK OF IT, I say!

Saw this bumper sticker on a truck in front of me at a stop light and took a pic... haven't seen that before!

Beach Fun

Lot's going on... figured I better post or the next one would be a mile long. Amy started classes at Grossmont College. I went over there to pay for some books today. $150 for one book, please! That is a scam if I ever heard it. I might start writing college textbooks. Fortunately, her scholarship from the church covered everything for this semester as well as the last one. After that, we will most likely pay as long as she's working, and as long as we aren't broke! Ally will start on Tuesday, we still have shopping to do for her.

Amy dropped her phone in the parking lot a couple nights ago. She didn't know she had dropped it, but her friend got a phone call from someone who found the phone, and she ended up getting it back. I can't believe I'm not the first one listed in her phone as the priority contact -- ha!

We had beach baptisms, along with volleyball and food, at Mariner's Point on Mission Beach on Sunday. I ended up getting a $40.00 parking ticket (which I am appealing) and getting stuck in the sand. Lucky for me, Loren was there with his jeep!




Still hot this week and the fires are burning -- but they are pretty far north of us right now. In fact, I haven't even seen smoke in the sky. It is supposed to cool off to the 80's by the weekend. I thought maybe we'd get some remnants of the hurricane hitting Baja, but they are saying no...