Leap Year

The ONLY reason I'm posting is because it's February 29th.  Enjoy your extra day!

The Trip:)

The Work

Most of my work pictures come from the crew I was on all week.  I didn't really get around to the other crews.  Pouring footings, bending rebar, leveling off gravel in preparation for the next group to pour cement, digging trenches for the sewer system and digging out a septic tank. 

Oh!  I do have one of a different crew.  The fencing guys.  But I have not a clue what they're doing here.

I promise, this was for work, not just a joyride:)

Oh yeah.  There was one day I helped sand a house for a little while.  Some of the other people at that site were priming and painting all these rafters.

Pop break at the bottom of the septic tank.

(Some of) The People

Sometimes on work teams it takes a few days to really warm up and feel comfortable around everyone who's there.  Not this time.  With the exception of just a few (including me) everyone was from Gridley.  But there was never an issue of finding my place.  That comfort zone was there from the very start.  It probably helped that I had two really good friends in the group, but still.  I loved the whole team.  They were great.

We may have skipped orientation for a quick trip to Cafe Sed....

 Madison and Rachel

Splitting the team up into groups of 4 or 5 for Monday night supper at the different houses.  I thought it was a great idea.

Nicole W.

Jarrin (I've always known her as Jarrin and it's really hard for me to say Raquel) and Geo.

Supper Friday night in Tuscon.  I'm assuming it was due mostly to lack of sleep, but I haven't laughed so much in a really long time.  Great night!

(A Very Small Handful of) The Kids

Wednesday during the staff meeting Ashley Baner and I babysat some of the little kids who weren't in school.  I snapped just a very few pictures then but it's really about all I got of the kids. 

Joel and Kristi

One day I cleaned up early, went out for lunch with Joel, Kristi and Soraya, and spent the afternoon at their house with them.  It was so good to see them but they are really hurting right now.  They need lots of prayers.  Read their story here.

Praising and thanking God for a great trip!!

Adios!!

I'm off to Mexico in the morning:):):):):)

Just a LITTLE excited!!!!!

I was hoping for a busy, fast week.  God decided to test my patience with an obnoxiously slow week.  But now it's over!  (almost)  And my trip is here!!!

Hasta luego!

Cute Quote

One night after reading "Go, Dog, Go!", H was making her own party hat, just like the book.  At one point she was putting stickers on it and told me

"I am rejoicing that I get to put stickers on my party hat!". 

Silly girl.  I guess I'd rather haver her rejoicing over stickers than being discouraged:)

The Train Saga

A couple weeks ago when I was babysitting Abel overnight, he announced that he wanted to play with his train tracks.  Now, this isn't just a tiny little train track.  It's awesome.  But a little intimidating for me, a very NON construction type person.  But I had the directions in hand and was determined to figure this out.  So we I started by getting everything organized into piles.

Then we I toiled for what seemed like hours which was really only probably about 20 minutes.  Getting very frustrated in the process because it seemed like they didn't have the whole set or something.  There were so many pieces missing and there was no way to get the track built how it was supposed to.  So after trying so hard to keep Abel off of the track, I finally relented and let him start destroying building how he wanted to build.  After he had succeeded in taking apart my hard work, I realized that the pieces were all double sided and we did in fact have all the necessary pieces.  *SIGH*

Not to be discouraged though, we improvised.  We did have a completed track, just a little smaller than originally planned!

My 16 Year Old Self

Today while blog hopping I came across a blog I had never read before.  I've never met this girl but her husband was a few years younger than me in school so I know where she belongs.  She was reading a book of what people would tell their 16 year old selves, then she made her own list.  It got me thinking of what I might tell my own 16 year old self.  Maybe not 16 exactly, but definitely a younger version.  There's lots more I could think of (probably more personal things) but here's a few that I came up with.

1.) Driving a junky car builds character.  So does paying for the gas and insurance.

2.)You may not want to admit it, but when your mom says you could put more effort into your grades, she's right.

3.)It's okay to go to college and not know exactly what you're going to do.  Take some time to get your gen eds done and find different things you're interested in.  There's a lot of options out there.

4.) Hiking boots and flannel shirts have their place, but not everyday of your life!

5.) And your hair- there's much better ways to do it.

                  (So glad I don't have a picture on here of those last two!!)

6,) Don't count on getting married really young.  Don't even spend too much time hoping to.  There's going to be so many awesome memories you make as a single person.

7.) School goes by fast.  Don't switch from a bachelor's program to an associate's because you just want to be done with it. (Or because you're doing exactly what I told you not to in number 6.)

8.) You don't have to be the last person to leave any given social function.  Getting enough sleep is a good thing.

9.) Take Spanish III and IV!

10.) It's great to spend so much time with your church friends.  But don't neglect your school friends.  There will come a day when you'll wish you had kept in better touch with them.

Well there you have it.  Now don't get me wrong.  I believe that experience is a great teacher and I'm okay with the fact that I did or didn't do most of these things.  Hindsight is always 20/20, isn't it?  But there are definitely times that I look back on my life and just shake my head.  Especially when it comes to hiking boots and flannel shirts.

Lord, You're Holy

Starts off a little slow but if there's ever been a song that makes me want to jump up and throw my hands in the air this one just might be it:)


Wonderful, Glorious, Holy and Righteous
Victorious, Conquerer, Triumphant and Mighty
Healer, Deliverer, Shield and Defense
Strong Tower and My Best Friend
Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Soon Coming King
Alpha, Omega, Lord of Everything