Rafting Down the Illinois River

On Saturday (the 11th) the Honors Scholars Program here at JBU took all the new freshmen and the Honors Orientation mentors rafting on the Illinois River! I’m typing this up today (9/12) so I won’t forget anything, but there are a few other things I want to post about on my blog before this actually goes up.

Anyway, we all (I think about 85 of us!) met at the Honors House at 9:00. Yep, it was a bit early for college kids on a Saturday. Then we all piled into a long caravan of a couple JBU vans and lots of personal vehicles. Thankfully it wasn’t a long drive. It took a while for everyone to get into the river. The rafts had six people each, and most rafts had one mentor and all the freshmen in that mentor’s group. I have four girls in my group, and then we had another girl from a group who had too many people to fit in a raft.

Here’s a picture of me and the girls I’m mentoring!

We weren’t doing anything near white water rafting. Just down river of the drop off point there was one little part that had a bit of rapids. I was sitting on the front seat and promptly tumbled off the seat into the girls behind me when we went over that bit, hehehe…. Not long after that we got stuck on some driftwood stuff, so I decided to hop out and pull the raft off. I managed to do that, but then of course the raft got away from me a bit and so I had to catch up to it and then try to climb in – and I made a grand fool of myself :D But I had fun doing that! J

We went around a bend in the river, and enjoyed some nice scenery – high buttes overlooking the river and things like that. It was nice and peaceful, and we enjoyed floating down river with the current. (We did have 4 paddles, but sometimes we didn’t row and just floated.) A couple times we made ourselves go round and round and round in circles – and that was really fun :D

All the rafts (I think there were at least 14 rafts, plus several 2-person canoes) were really spread out, so we weren’t really near any other people for most of the trip. After about an hour (maybe?), we got to the place where we were all pulling off to have lunch. Our raft was in the second half of the pack, so by the time we got there the boys from the rafts ahead of us had gotten the “bright” idea of stopping the rafts and pulling or making everyone jump into the water. Not that I minded getting wet – but I’m independent enough I didn’t like being forced to, so I tried to “defend myself” a bit :D

Anyway, we enjoyed our lunch. There were lots of butterflies landing on people, a cute little tiny turtle (only a little more than an inch in diameter!) and a not so cute baby snake…the snake was probably about a foot long, and it kind of slithered over one girl’s leg, then went around and tried to hide in a life jacket that was lying on the shore, and then swam off right in the middle of us all. Yep, a lot of us were a little freaked out about it!

After lunch all the rafts and canoes headed on down river again. Some of the other people decided to just swim/float down river rather than riding in the rafts. Our raft was doing just fine, but then a couple of the floating guys decided to come “attack” us. We tried to paddle really fast and get away…..but it didn’t work. Two of the girls went rather willingly into the river, but the other four of us held our ground. J We lost one of our paddles though :/ So there were only four of us in the raft, and we only had three paddles. And we were rather disoriented. There was the really low hanging tree, and we tried to stay away from it….but no, we went under it. We all ducked and screamed a bit, but we made it under :D A couple of the girls said that was their favorite part of the ride….. J Well, we went a little further and then I grabbed onto a tree trunk so that the other two girls could catch up to us and get back in the raft. A little further downstream there was a bank about 10 feet high, maybe? And the water below it was about six feet deep. So five or so students were taking turns scrambling up the bank and jumping into the river. Yep, it made me pretty nervous, and I certainly didn’t do it! But no one got hurt.

We were the last raft, and there were a couple canoes near us. So the four or so people who had been floating/swimming decided to join us on our raft – at least it wasn’t for very long! We went a little further downstream and then we could see the place where we would get out of the river. There was a boat jam there of people trying to get out, so we hung back and floated around really lazily for a little while – the more adventurous ones went and climbed on a big tree that was sitting partly in the water. Lauren, one of my girls, did a neat flip to get out of it :D Eventually, the people downstream hollered at us that it was time to go, so we went the rest of the way down, and got out of the water.

And thus ended our epic boating trip. It was a great idea for a bonding time between mentors and students, and I had a blast. J Of course, today my shoulder and hip are really sore, but it was totally worth it!

My Labor Day Weekend!

[If you want to hear about what I actually did for most of the weekend, go to this post on Nathan's blog. If you want to hear about the long process of how I got to Colorado Springs, this is the place to be!]

At JBU we don't have classes on Labor Day off. Last year I had stayed on campus, and there was basically no one around. But, it's so close to the beginning of school that it seems silly to go home. Anyhow, this year I had a much more interesting weekend! Labor Day weekend is Parents Weekend at USAFA (U.S. Air Force Academy - where Nathan is going to school!), so Dad and Mom drove up on Wednesday to spend the weekend with him. Nathan knew they were planning to come, of course. What he didn't know is that we'd been planning a surprise for him, even since before he left Dallas in June! The surprise? That I would fly to Colo. Sprgs. so I could join them for the weekend! :D

Anyway, one of my friends here at JBU lives in Colorado Springs, so when Dad and Mom and I came up with the idea I messaged her to see if maybe we could fly together! Her name is Cassie, and we were able to fly together - it was nice to not be by myself :) And, it made the surprise part much easier, because her parents could pick us up from the airport. We were able to find some reasonably priced tickets (flying into Denver instead of Colo. Sprgs.), but the flight that we had to pick wasn't the most convenient :/

On Friday (the 3rd) we both had class until 4:00, so we had to take the last flight package of the day from Tulsa to Denver. That made us go from Tulsa to Phoenix and then from Phoenix to Denver. Talk about the long way around! So we found a ride to Tulsa, since neither of us have a car. [Important note - we left JBU at 4:00 p.m. CentralST - remember that!] On Thursday I got really worried because I had seen that it took an hour and a half to get from JBU to Tulsa, and I didn't know what traffic or airport lines would be like, and our flight left at 6:20! But, that all worked out perfectly fine. I think we were sitting at our gate by 5:30, because it only took one hour to get to the airport. We eventually boarded our flight, which left on time, and that is when our adventures began! (Cassie and I had hoped to sit together, but there weren't any seats together when we boarded)

Our itinerary said that we would land at Phoenix at 6:50, and then we would have an hour lay-over until our flight to Denver left. I hadn't looked at a map recently to see just how far it was from Arkansas to Arizona. So I glibly thought our flight would be 30 minutes. 3o minutes into the flight, the pilot had just announced that we had reached cruising altitude, and the attendants were just starting to pass out drinks and such. I hadn't thought about the time change. Phoenix must be in MountainST. So it would be an hour and a half. No big deal. I changed my watch and settled back into my seat to get some reading done for school.

7:30 MST came around, and we had just started our descent. I started getting worried about then. Was our flight that much behind schedule???? Cassie and I had to catch a flight at 7:50! I even checked a map in the plane magazine to see if Arizona was in PacificST. It wasn't. We landed right at 7:50, and I was so sure we were going to miss our flight. We were in the back of the plane, and I knew there was no way we were going to get off that plane, find our gate, and get onto the next plane in time. Cassie tapped me on the shoulder and said "we are going to have to book it!" I checked my phone, and it said the time was 6:50. I did a double take, checked my MST-set watch, and then a light dawned. I told Cassie to check her phone. She did, and it said 6:50. Then I realized what had happened. Silly little AZ doesn't do Daylight Savings Time. So for half of the year, it is in MST. For the other half of the year, it is in PST. We weren't going to miss our flight. We had landed right on time and had an hour to relax.

So we got off the plane, got some food, and then lay across some seats talking. We also talked to this really cute little boy (about 6 or 7 years old I think) who wanted to tell us all about the kids show on the TV :) At 7:30 or so we headed over to our gate for our next flight. Our plane was a little late coming in from LAX. The people who had been on the plane got off, and then the boarding process started.....and then suddenly stopped. We had no idea what was going on, the line just wasn't moving at all.

After a few minutes, two girls (well, they were probably a couple years older than me) came off the plane and were standing against the wall complaining about someone being rude. A couple more people boarded the plane, and then the line stopped again while the guy doing the boarding went to the airplane and got someone for the girls to talk to. They were apparently complaining that a flight attendant had been rude to them (I still think they were taking advantage of the two situations with flight attendants that have happened recently), while the attendant was saying that the girls hadn't done what she asked them to do, or something like that. Anyway, those two girls did not get back on the plane. I think they were basically kicked off the flight. So because of all that, our flight was at least half an hour late when be finally pulled away from the gate at about 8:30 PST.

It had been announced that it would be a full flight, so Cassie and I knew we didn't have a chance of sitting together. When we saw that both front rows had an empty seat we immediately took them. So we were in the first row - which made it nice for getting off the plane! We finally landed in Denver at about 11:00 p.m. MST. Cassie's parents met us at the baggage claim area. We waited a while at the carousel that had our flight's info, and then it was announced that our flight's baggage was at a different one. So we finally got our stuff, and then we started driving to Colo. Sprgs.

Since I was trying to surprise Nathan by just showing up at the hotel where he was staying with Dad and Mom, I couldn't call to let them know the flight was late. They had all gone to bed at about 10 (I think) anyway. Mom called me at about 12:30 a.m. MST, and I told her then. A little before 1 a.m. MST, I finally got dropped off at the hotel. Mom had told me on Thursday what room number they would be in, so I went up and Mom let me in. Nathan was sound asleep, so I shook him awake. He looked at me and was like "hi" with his sleepy smile. Then his facial expression showed his mental realization of "wait a minute, what are you doing here???? You're supposed to be in AR!" It was funny :) So then we all got settled back down and went to sleep.

So it was 1 a.m. MST by the time I arrived at the hotel - 2 a.m. CST. TEN HOURS after we had left JBU. I was definitely tired, but it was SO worth it!

The trip back to JBU on Monday the 6th was much less eventful. There was a male flight attendant who used the safety briefing as an opportunity to show off his beatboxing skills - so that was funny :) We were able to take a direct flight from Denver to Tulsa, which was nice. Another girl who goes to JBU and has a boyfriend at USAFA flew back on the same flight as us (she had been able to get an earlier flight on Friday), so one of her friends tooks us from Tulsa back to JBU.

And that's the end of my long story :)

Bluebonnet - the best little birdie ever!

This post is dedicated in honor of my pet budgerigar, Bluebonnet. This summer sometime (probably in July), he turned five, and August 25th was the 5th anniversary of the day I got him from the pet store.

My grandma and aunt were visiting from Sacramento, and they wanted to give me an early birthday present. So we were sitting out in the living room talking about it, and Mom was like "Why don't you get a pet bird?" I, of course, loved the idea, because I love animals and especially birds. I just wouldn't have guessed that Mom would be willing for me to get one! (And I would guess that sometimes she wishes she hadn't suggested it! ;-) )

So we got on the internet, did a little research, and discovered that budgerigars, also known as budgies or parakeets (they are actually a type of parakeet) make good first time pet birds. The next day we visited two pet stores, and I fell in love with a cute little (he really was littler than the other birds!) blue budgie. We brought him, a house (what I call his cage), food, toys, etc. all home, and that evening got him situated in his new home. The poor little guy was very scared, understandably!

Two days later we were already taking him out of the cage and having him sit on his playground. Much later, I learned that you should ideally go much slower than that when trying to tame a budgie. But I didn't know better, and thankfully Bluebonnet was very young and so he did great. I remember how we would give him spray millet on the playground so that he wouldn't immediately fly back to his house (I guess his wings weren't clipped very short!). We had to get a few things straightened out right off the bat. He did not eat pellets like they said he would - he wanted seeds! I also had to get him a different water bottle. But once we got those things switched around, he was happy.

We put his house out in our den where I spent most of my time doing schoolwork. Whenever Nathan or I walked in the room, we would tell him "Hi!" We talked to him a lot too. I don't remember too much more about "the early days." In November he had his first molt (molting is where a bird loses a lot of its feathers and new ones grow in). I did a little research and discovered that a bird's first molt is typically when they are 3 months old, so that's how I know about when he hatched. I think it was also in Novemeber that he said his first words: "pretty birdie!" He also soon learned how to say "Hi!", so whenever any of us came into the room he would greet us :)

[I'll add more to this later - I've got to go for now]

The last couple weeks of summer....

After our quick trip to Colorado for Nathan's Acceptance (into USAFA) Day parade (see these two posts on his blog to read about that) on August 2nd-4th, I nannied Christopher for one day and then they went on a family vacation. During the week they were gone (Aug. 9th-13), I was able to spend time with friends and put in 2-3 full days of work for Mrs. Stewart (my high school teacher - I'm her assistant when I'm in town), so that was really nice. I was also supposed to work on packing during that week. I think I did a bit, but not much. Oh, and before our Colorado trip I had taken Christopher back to the pool for a birthday party. That time I had my swimming suit on, so I was more willing to get wet - and so he did better than the first time I took him!

Anyway, the last week before coming back to JBU (Aug. 16-20) I nannied in the mornings, and one afternoon I think. I finally had both boys again, which made me happy :) I hadn't seen much of Brian for about five weeks, and I was missing him! (Mom kind of made fun of me for that - but I really do love those little guys!) During that week, we went back to the Museum of Nature and Science, and we also went to the Zoo again. On the other days, we would often go to the park and to Barnes & Noble. If I remember right, Brian asked me one time why I had to go back to college and why I couldn't keep coming over to spend time with him...but I promised him I would come see him when I'm in town :) Hopefully Christopher will remember who I am - I'm relatively sure he will.

On Saturday, August 21st, Dad and Mom and I packed up the van with all my *stuff* for college and headed out for a couple days of camping. We stayed at Devils Den State Park. The first night it was *really* hot and muggy, but the next morning we were able to get out early and do some hiking. We went on several *long* hikes, and in the afternoon we enjoyed some air conditioning at a place that had a beautiful over look and *lots* of hummingbird feeders! What's more, the owner of the gift shop had recently gotten a beautiful cockatoo, and I got to hold him! :D

Then on Monday the 23rd we came over to JBU and Dad and Mom helped me get moved into my room - the same room I had last year! My wonderful room mate Jessica arrived a little later in the afternoon, and we spent the next couple days arranging/unpacking.

And thus ended my wonderful summer at home - It's so odd living two different lives in a sense. I slip so easily from one to another now! I really haven't been homesick a bit...although I do miss Dad and Mom and Nathan and Bluebonnet. But at the same time I'm so glad to be back at JBU - it really is a second home.

An Animal Post

Written 8/2/2010 at Cheyenne Mountain State Park in Colorado!

I’ve seen lots of fun animal things recently, so here’s a random list of all the ones I can remember off the top of my head.

• I was walking in my neighborhood one day, and a young/baby Cardinal flew off the ground from just a couple feet in front of me! The mom was right around there too. I never would have seen the baby if it hadn’t flown!
• At the place I house sat last week, there were two dogs – Buddy, a big black lab as sweet as could be, and Bailey, a small black Schnauzer/Jack Russell Terrier mix, as hyper as could be! Well, there are lots from them J 1) Buddy slept in the same bedroom I did every night. So did Bailey, but she always sleeps in her crate in there. Buddy chose to J 2) Buddy was very laid back – all he needed to make him happy was lots of water and lots of petting. Bailey, on the other hand, would just about go crazy! She loves having her toys thrown (both inside and outside). The funniest part of that was the way she would slide across the wooden floor when she went running to fetch her toy :D 3) Buddy liked eying the many rabbits that lived in the neighborhood during our walks. Of course, I never let him chase one. But I found it funny that such a sweet dog seemed to want to hunt poor cute little bunnies! 4) Whenever I started petting Buddy, Bailey would run over and want her share too.
• I went to the Dallas Zoo on Dollar Day. Tons of fun animal things from there, of course, but the three biggest are: 1) the wild Great Egrets that had a nest in the flamingo exhibit (it was open air), 2) the species of bird in the children’s aviary that loved poking their long beaks into peoples’ pockets and backpacks, and 3) the little weaver birds in the other aviary that were making their nests right above the path. The males were being absolute clowns (hanging upside down on one foot) trying to show off the nests they had made, and the females were busy dive bombing anyone who stood still on the path to watch the males!
• Last night we were camping at Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo, and three things happened there too. 1) There were a couple Painted Bunting babies that were begging to be fed by their papa right near our site! FUN!!! J 2) There were TONS (as in, 40-50) of vultures/other raptors circling above our site. At first we were wondering what had died to attract that many birds, but then we guessed that they were using thermals instead. 3) Two butterflies thought the wooden legs of our campstools tasted really yummy…..who knows why! After we finished at the camp fire and moved to the picnic table, the butterflies followed us, so I took a bite out of my apple and let them drink some juice from there. They both stayed for a super long time and were really “tame”! I got some good pictures J

Ok, I couldn't think of as many things as I thought I had seen...but oh well.

(edit on 9/11/10) - Ah, I remembered another couple things I meant to put on here!

• One day I was waiting for the train at a station and I watched a Grackle (a kind of blackbird) catch and eat a grasshopper. I found that interesting for some reason - I must have been tired that day!
• A few days later I watched a little sparrow try to catch a moth, again while waiting for the train. The moth kept getting away!
• Oh, and another one from the zoo - the two macaws who were madly in love with one another - evidenced by them preening each other almost non-stop and regurgitating for each other. Even a little kid recognized it: "look, they're making out!" lol

I just love watching God's creation! :)

Do Hard Things (book review)

On the back cover:

“Most people don’t expect you to understand what we are going to tell you in this book. And even if you understand, they don’t expect you to care. And even if you care, they don’t expect you to do anything about it. And even if you do something about it, they don’t expect it to last. WE DO.”

Book info:

Title – Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations

Authors – Alex and Brett Harris

Publisher – Multnomah Books, 2008

Hardback, 12 chapters, 240 pages

My review:

This is an excellent book….one I wish I had read quite a while ago! Twins Alex and Brett, founders of www.therebelution.com, were “only” nineteen when they wrote the book. The premise of their book, however, is that their age should not keep them – or any teenager – from aiming for and achieving “hard things” (things the culture doesn’t think they can accomplish). Their book encourages teenagers to reject the “myth of adolescence” (that teenagers are too young to do anything worthwhile) and to instead use the teen years as a launching board to the rest of their lives. Alex and Brett offer many examples of young people doing “hard things” and the ways that God has blessed their efforts. They suggest five types of “hard things” that teens can aim for, and they also discuss three components needed for success. Alex and Brett believe that today’s generation of young people is specially equipped and blessed with resources that could make it a generation of movers and shakers – but first, teens must be willing to push beyond what is expected of them: they must do hard things.

Alex and Brett are great writers. The book is simple and easy to read, and it’s a fun book too! Implementing the concepts in the book, on the other hand, requires a revolution in how one lives life. One of my favorite things about the book – something that especially applied to me – was the last chapter: “World, Meet Your Rebelutionaries.” In that chapter, Alex and Brett talk about how a book like Do Hard Things can be a mountain-top experience, and they give practical suggestions for how to start a personal rebelution (rebelution is a word the brothers made up to describe a rebellion against low expectations, which would lead to a revolution in one’s life). I know I often feel like that. I read a great book like this one, and I think “WOW! This is a real life changer! I’ll never be the same!” It’s really not that simple. Reading a book, watching a movie, hearing a speaker, going to a conference, none of those things can change your life. It’s how YOU choose to respond and what YOU do to change your life that changes your life. The book, movie, speaker, conference, etc – they’re just tools. Tools don’t do any good unless YOU pick them up and use them. Even so, you should go read Do Hard Things ;-)

this morning/my summer life

Dad and Mom and I went for a walk at a beautifully done park/nature preserve this morning. We spent about an hour walking around the pond and on the natural trails in the wooded area.

We saw several fun things while we were there! First off, I saw a couple Kingbirds and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers. I love Scissor-tails - they're so pretty and polished looking ;-) We also saw what I think was an American Bittern - but he was up in a tree! He sure looked funny up there :) Shortly afterward we saw a pretty Indigo Bunting - he was singing up in the top of a tree. Indigo Buntings have a really pretty song! Later, we saw two big Great Blue Herons flying across the lake - also a big white Egret. We even noticed a cute little hummingbird feeding from some red wild flowers! While we were there we saw and heard several hawks, one of which was getting chased away by a Kingbird :) Of course, we did see things other than birds too ;-) A couple little frogs, tiny skinks, a spider that was wrapping something up, and a bunch of moths on a tree that startled me. The moths were big ones - probably about an inch wide and an inch long. They blended in really well to the tree bark, and there were 7-10 on the same side of the trunk! Well, we were walking by, and they all flew off the trunk at once - and that's what startled me :D

So - about the rest of my life this summer...I only have one month left before I head back for the fall semester at JBU, and I am really starting to look forward to it (as in, I'm starting to miss school and all my friends from there!!!). I'm very very thankful to God for the way He's provided for me this summer. I have my nanny job (20-30 hours/week) that pays very well, and then I also have other babysitting, working for my teacher from high school, and house sitting. I did one house sit in June, and I'll be doing another one next week. So I feel a lot more financially "secure," thanks to God's provision :) Oh, and we had a garage sale that I made $50 from! ;-)

Only downside is that I've been working a lot and so that has kept me pretty busy.....I have been able to hang out with friends here a few times, but the summer has been running away a little too fast.

Nathan is away at the US Air Force Academy, so I miss him tons. I try to keep up with WebGuy, a blog that talks about what the basics are up to. I then post stuff that deals with Nathan on the blog I developed for him. I post on that one a lot more frequently than I do on here...partly because I know people read that, and I'm not sure anyone really reads this.......

We're going to go see Nathan's "graduation" from Basic Cadet Training (ie, boot camp) about a week and a half from now. I'll be super super excited to see him!!!! even though it will only be for a couple hours :(

I'm finally getting back to exercising consistently again! I took most of May and June off from that because I was too busy :P I should have kept it up. Now I'm trying to work back up to doing more. But it's going well, and I am making progress :)

I've also been able to read several good books, which has been really nice. There's two I'm reading right now that will get book reviews on here like Grown-Up Girlfriends did (see below).

Well, that's about it...ta ta for now!

Oh Be Careful Child Caretakers What You Do!

(In case you couldn't tell, the above is supposed to be sung to the tune of "oh be careful little eyes what you see") ;-)

I'm feeling bloggy today...just posted one about a good book, this one will be about "my" boys, and then I think there's going to be another one about this morning and/or the other parts of my life :)

I thought of this title yesterday while I was working at my nanny job. And it's so true!!! Little Christopher (turned 2 a couple months ago) mimics just about everything I do. Here's proof:

• A couple weeks ago, I sat down cross-legged on the floor to put his shoes on. He promptly used his hands to get his legs into the same position as mine :D I had to straighten out my legs so that he would straighten out his so I could get his shoes on! To this day, whenever we sit down on the floor, he crosses his legs - even if I don't :)
• I have an exercise I do to help rehab my back after a car accident several months ago. It involves standing with my knees bent and my back up against a wall, putting my arms up against the wall and then sliding them down the wall. Whenever I do it, Christopher watches very carefully and then says "my turn!" and stands up against the wall and tries to do it. And he's getting better at doing what he sees me doing!
• When we played with play dough, he was doing his best to do the same things to his that I did to mine! If I rolled it in a ball, he tried to do the same. If I put it on the table and started rolling it into a long string, he did too. If I squashed mine, he did the same. You get the idea.
• He also tries to mimic everything that Brian (just turned 6) does. This sometimes causes problems :/

Christopher is also one of the most observant little 2-year-olds I've ever seen! I wrote about how he noticed my shoes back on June 15th. Well, this week I got a new pair of tennis shoes, so when he saw them he was like "Esther's shoes!" and I said "yes, I got new shoes." One day I wore a yellow shirt that has hummingbirds. I have another yellow shirt (about the same color) that has pictures of lots of different birds, so when I got in the car and he saw my yellow shirt he said "birds!" Later, when we were playing with play dough, he said he was going to make a bird and he pointed to my shirt :) Isn't he adorable??? :D

Now that he's not in school, he seems to be forgetting some of his colors and shapes :/ So I obviously need to work on those more with him! He's really good at remembering songs though! He can sing the ABC song pretty much by himself, and he knows the Eensy Weensy Spider, Old MacDonald had a Farm, the Wheels on the Bus, Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Head Shoulders Knees and Toes :D

I think it's so funny how little kids breathe really hard through their mouth when they're concentrating on something ;-) Just thought I'd mention that.

There's so many other little things I could say about Christopher. He's just really cute :)

Brian has been doing a field-trip program through his school last week and he'll be doing it next week too. So that means I don't get to see him much :(

Grown-Up Girlfriends (book review)

Last semester at JBU during one of the Women of Walker nights, Erin Smalley from JBU's Center for Relationship Enrichment came to talk to us about how to be "grown-up" girlfriends (this is a girl-girl friendship kind, not a girl-guy kind). I really liked what she had to say, so I soon went down to the bookstore and bought the book she wrote with her friend Carrie Oliver. I finally read it this summer! And it is a very good book.

Book info:

Title - Grown-Up Girlfriends: Finding and Keeping Real Friends in the Real World

Authors - Erin Smalley and Carrie Oliver

Publisher - Tyndale House Publishers, 2007

Paperback, 13 chapters, 223 pages

My review of it:

This is a terrific book that takes a good look at how to have deeper and more lasting friendships. Writing from a Biblical Christian perspective, Erin and Carrie discuss various characteristics of friendships that are "grown-up" rather than childish and selfish. The chapters include subjects such as "The Grown-Up Girlfriend Experiences Levels of Intimacy," "The Grown-Up Girlfriend Embraces Differences," and "The Grown-Up Girlfriend Forgives." The authors use many real life examples, both from their own lives and from other's, to illustrate their points. Each chapter has several reflection questions at the end to help the reader apply the principles to her own life.

I know for me, this book pointed out some of the ways that I could be negatively impacting my friendships through my selfish actions. Some of the things I hadn't ever thought of before, or hadn't quite pin pointed what I was feeling. It took me a while to get through this book - it's not really a difficult read, it's just a little meatier than some books are.

If you feel like you're missing out on something - if you feel like you don't have any really good friends, I would highly suggest reading this book. It can help you think through how you approach and maintain friendships.

oh dear.....

Yesterday was my last day of nanny work for a little while, and boy was I glad of that! Thursday evening had been really tough (no details because that would be gossiping), and I was glad they were going out of town all next week so I could have a break. Then yesterday the parents told me I wouldn't be seeing Brian (the older one) for three weeks because he's going to do a summer program through his school for two weeks after they get back from vacation. And now I'm sad because I won't see him! So even though it's very tough being a nanny sometime - I really do love those guys!

Last week was, for the most part, fun. I went in the mornings, and the boys and I went several places. On Monday we went to the Museum of Nature and Science at Fair Park. Christopher loved the fire truck down stairs in the Children's Museum part :) Tuesday and Thursday mornings we went to the park and to Barnes and Noble (the park is Christopher's favorite, B&N is Brian's) and I also stayed for the afternoon those two days.

On Wednesday the boys and I rode DART down to the Dallas Zoo. That didn't turn out to be what I had expected it to be. I thought we would get to see lots of animals, but Brian was more interested in the activities at the Children's zoo area. But they had fun, so it was ok. They both freaked out when birds landed on them in the aviary though ;-) The birds were the sweetest cockatiels, but the boys weren't used to birds flying onto their heads...for some reason.... ;-) Brian enjoyed the train ride too, and Christopher did fine with it.

Yesterday I took them to their local swimming pool. Christopher is a bit afraid of the water, but he did pretty well. We just stayed in a shallow baby pool (only gets to two feet in depth) and in the splash area.

Boy oh boy, I really am going to miss "my" boys.....but I think it was time for a little break.

P.S. Brian asked on Monday why I couldn't stay all day - quite a change from him asking my first day what I was doing there ;-) And I've been invited to his birthday party :)

Heard Wildlife Sanctuary

On Thursday morning, Mom and I went with a friend of ours to the Heard Wildlife Sanctuary up in McKinney. I hadn't been there in a l-o-n-g time, so it was fun to go back and remember it. We went there a lot when I was younger :) One of the main reasons we went this time is because they had a baby ring-tailed lemur that Mom had seen when she and Dad went in March or April. Here is a picture of the baby. He's sitting on the door to the little playground set, and his mom is on the ground.

We also went into the butterfly house for a while - here's a couple pictures from that. I'm not good at knowing what butterflies are what species though, sorry ;-)

Then we went back to watch the lemurs more - baby was riding on his mom's back. They knew it was about time to be fed :D
The volunteers came and fed the animals - here's an albino raccoon!

I forget exactly what this one is called, but it's a relative of raccoons that lives in Mexico/South America.

And some Capybaras (or something like that!) They are actually rodents, but they are more like the size of pigs! And they love being in the water.
One more peek at the lemurs - they were all sitting together. The dad is in front, the mom is in back, and the baby was nursing. It was pretty cute :)
Then we went to an area inside that has big windows with feeders outside to watch the birds a bit :) Right when we got there, there was a beautiful male Ruby Throated Hummingbird. Sadly, I was too busy watching him and didn't get a picture :/ Below are House Finches at the tube feeder. There were lots of them.
Several other species of birds that we saw - on the left is a Hairy Woodpecker (or maybe a Downy), on the top is a Nuthatch that we saw just before leaving, and on the bottom are Mourning Doves, a male Brown-Headed Cowbird, and more House Finch. We also saw Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice.
We had lots of fun spending a couple of hours there :) The bad part is that we got chiggers :P So I'm still a little miserable from that :(

Nannying - the joys :)

My main job this summer is to be a part-time nanny for two boys. I was hoping to get a "real" job at a restaurant or retail store, but this is what God has provided for me and I am very thankful for it :) The family is related to a friend of a high school teacher of mine - so that's how I heard about the opportunity.

The two boys are Brian and Christopher. Brian will turn six next month, and Christopher just turned 2 last month (Christopher is above, Brian is in the picture riding his bike).

I babysat one evening in May as a trial run of sorts, but I really started my job on June 1st. The first week, I worked during the mornings and only had Christopher because Brian was at a tennis camp. Christopher and I had our schedule down pat :D He and his dad would pick me up from the train station at about 9:00, and then he and I would play with his yellow truck out front, look at the flowers, and walk along the rock pathway counting the rocks. Sometimes I would push Christopher in his tricycle. After a while, we would go to the park not too far from their house. The first day, all Christopher was really willing to do was go up the regular steps and walk around on the playground. By Friday, he was climbing up just about every way to climb up, going down the slide by himself, and swinging in all the swings :) We would play for a couple hours, then go back to the house and eat lunch, look at a couple of books, and then he would go down for his nap.

Even though Christopher just turned two, he is very smart! He knows the ABC song pretty well, can count up to about 7 (though he often says "one, two, four, five..."), is fairly good at identifying colors and shapes, knows what and where all his facial features are, knows lots of words, and is almost potty trained! Both boys go to a Montessori school, and I think that is where Christopher gets most of his training.

These second two weeks I have gone in the afternoons and have had both boys. I get there at about 12:30, feed the boys lunch, and put Christopher down for his nap. Then Brian and I usually do play dough, play with his pirate ship, he gets dressed up in costumes, and sometimes we look at books. I also take Brian to his swim lessons, and last week I took him to Ride and Glide (a bike camp at the YMCA). Sometimes the boys and I go to Barnes and Noble and look at books there.

Christopher is super cute, and thankfully he and I hit it off pretty well :) I taught him my name on Thursday or so of the first week, and he's always excited to see me when they pick me up from the train station :D I was going to put in some of the cute things he's done, especially the first week, but I feel like I've already forgotten some of them :(

One is that he says "Peek-a-bo, I see you" in the cutest voice! He also says "I've gotchyou, I've gotchyou" any time he's feeling nervous/scared/uncomfortable. He has the biggest blue eyes - lots of people comment on them when they see him. And he can say "yes!" or "okay" in the cutest voice possible if he wants to do something you're suggesting. Also, he always notices what is on my shirt! I wore two different horse shirts two days in a row, and so now he keeps asking for horses when he sees me :)

His dad told me this funny story - evidently the mom has the same kind of tennis shoes that I do. So one day she was squatting down talking to Christopher and he looked at her shoes and said "Esther's shoes!" So that shows you that he is a *very* observant young fellow! :D

Brian and I get along pretty well too....we had more of a rough start, but that's rather understandable since he's six and thus has stronger opinions! I think we have come to a fairly good understanding, but we still have a couple tough spots once in a while. I can't really think of anything cute or funny he's done yet...oh well.

I'm only going to blog about the positive/fun things that happen.......but believe me, that doesn't mean that's the whole story. These boys are, of course, human just like all the rest of us. But I just try to focus on the positive and love on them a lot.

a messed up morning..........

So I'm house sitting for the next few days...and this morning I was going to ride the bus/train/bus to get back to my house after spending the night at the other house. It was all going to work out very well, because I wouldn't have to wait very long at any of my transfer points! Well, it did not end up working out like that. At all.

I left the house plenty early because I didn't know how long it was going to take me to walk to the bus stop. It only took me 10 minutes to walk the .4 miles, so I had 12 minutes to spare! I went to a Starbucks on the corner and got a parfait, then went back to the bus stop and ate it. I could see the bus on the other side of the intersection. After a few minutes, I realized that the bus was just sitting there with its hazard lights going! I was pretty confused...I waited for a while, until the pick up time had passed, and the bus was still just sitting there.

I was getting worried, because I only had one minute to spare between my bus arrival and the train departing. Looking back on this, I wasn't thinking very straight at all!!!!! I decided to walk to the train station since the bus wasn't seeming to come. Well, I did. It was spitting rain. At one point the bus zoomed past me. To make a long story short, it was a little over two miles to the train station. A couple times I ran because I didn't know how far it was and I was still hoping to make my train. That was a crazy hope.

I missed two or three trains as I walked to the station (it took me 24 minutes), so when I finally got there I had just missed one and had to wait 15 minutes for the next one. I finally got on the train and rode down to the station closest to my house. Took a bus that got me a little ways toward my house, then had to walk another .6 miles.

All in all, thanks to my impatience and not being rational, a trip that was supposed to take one hour took two. The end.

why I will (not) miss Nathan

Nathan, my (not little) younger brother leaves for USAFA (the United States Air Force Academy) on June 23rd. When he does, he will just about fall off the face of the earth for the next four years. The below story is an example of why I will (and will not) miss him a TON.

Sunday afternoon my upper back was really sore (it's a long story but includes a car accident over 5 months ago and lifting a 2-year-old) and I was lying on my floor in pain...

My dad was asking Nathan and me if we had any expectations for the afternoon. I said something like "no, but I do expect Nathan to go heat up my heat pad for me!" (as in 'hint hint'!)

Nathan responds "Oh, that's a bad expectation to have!" He then tries to convince me that I'm closer to where my heat pad is so I should do it. I retort that I am more comfortable lying on the floor than he is standing up, so he should do it. He responds "but I don't know where it is and I don't know how to do it!" So I tell him where it is, but he's still acting like he won't do anything about it....he wants me to tell him every move to make. So I tell him "open the drawer" and he does, "pull out the heat pad" and he does, "shut the drawer" and he protests that's not a necessary step.

He almost tosses it to me and I'm like "but it's not hot yet!" So I tell him to go heat it in the microwave on high for 2 minutes. And the rascal acts like he doesn't know how to use the microwave - like I'll have to tell him every move to make out there. So I say "it's one step! You go out to the microwave, open the door, put the heat pad in, turn it on..." As I said that, I counted on my fingers without thinking! Nathan caught me, of course. "That's not one step, you're counting on your fingers!" and then he mimics me, sending me into peals of laughter :D

So he went out to do it, acting as if he was going to come back in to get a new instruction every time. I heard the microwave go off, and then he came back with his hands behind his back and was like "ok, what next?" And I said "hand me the hot pad!" because I am smart and I knew he had it behind his back even though he was trying to trick me into thinking it was still in the kitchen :D

So that's what my crazy brother and I do to amuse ourselves :)

well well...what have we here?

My poor little blog...I have just rediscovered you! I'm sorry I've been so neglectful for so long....I'm afraid it's because of a strange phenomenon called LIFE - and COLLEGE. Also, I feel like no one really reads what I write here....so I feel like there's no point in posting! But maybe if I get in the habit a little more this summer...maybe, just maybe I shall be more consistent.

So what I'm not going to try to do is give a daily report of the last seven months - or to give a daily report from here on out!

That was all written last night...and guess what? I got distracted talking to two of my good friends on Facebook :D So a blog update got put off once again......