"Such is Life"

If you ever been around me for any amount of time, you have probably heard me say that to someone...

"Such is life" 

Life happens, it doesn't go the way we planned, or hoped, or think is best.

It isn't easy to say to someone else, you know they are disappointed or struggling to accept a change in events, or whatever... but it is harder still to say it to myself!

Matthew called me Tuesday morning to let me know I wasn't going to be able to go with him to Palm Springs for the conference.  It was very understandable and reasonable and I knew I had to accept it, the cold, hard facts, but I cried almost all day.  I texted a friend whose reply was basically, "Buck up girl, you're going to survive and you WILL make the most out of it, though it is no fun at all." It kinda put the grit back into me and made realize something that Vanessa-mom has been talking about lately.  

“Indeed, my plans are not like your plans,

and my deeds are not like your deeds,

9 

for just as the sky is higher than the earth,

so my deeds are superior to your deeds

and my plans superior to your plans.

Isaiah 55:8&9

 God is in control of my life, (if I'm not try to wrestle the wheel from His hands!), He's going to take care of me and I can learn and grow from whatever comes my way.  Even including being separated from Matthew for a few days!  It helped so much to have a caring, loving husband who lets me cry, finds out what is going on in my head and helps me find the sunshine again!

He told me to keep busy, help someone, and no moping allowed!

I dropped him off at work Wednesday morning, where he was going to work half a day and then drive with the principle and two teachers down to Palm Springs.

I went home and got busy!

With the leftover material from a skirt I just made myself, I made two little girl skirts.

I went on the treadmill
and straightened the house.

I took dinner to Mom and Dad's and spent the evening with them.

We read from Matthew.

 I stayed the nights with Nelson and Cherisa.  And Matthew and FaceTimed each night, which helped a TON!

Thursday I spent with Mom thrifting, sewing, and hiking Pine Mountain!
And played their piano.  Which she got some simple classical stuff out and I was like, I can't play that stuff, it has been years, and I wasn't good at it then!  But hey, it was fun - probably didn't sound anything near good, but I stumbled through some of it and found an appetite to practice!

Picked up Sarah Beth from school on the way to drop me off at Cherisa's.
Thought this jet trail was interesting, but reminded me of 9/11

So much fun to get lots of time with Hailey!

Good ol' Calvin and Hobbes - great for a much needed laugh!

Hailey loves sleeping on her blanket on the floor, or just laying on her back,
wiggling and 'talking'.

Friday I spent with Cherisa.  We walked to my house to get the mail and water the plants. (All three of them...)  After lunch, I hiked Pine Mountain again with Mom!  Love it!

Sing Friday night. I left early to get back to talk to a lonely Matthew.  The other guys had gone to a movie.

Family picture of three!
Thanks a ton to my new sister and brother-in-law!
They made me feel at home and welcomed.

I've got an amazing -in-law family!  Don't know what I would have done without them this weekend, especially with so many being out of town for Derrick and Maggie's wedding.

 Saturday I went thrifting and grabbed some groceries.  Then came home, got the house all spic and span, and then myself all spic and span just in time to drive down to pick up Matthew at Grizzly.

Buttercup has come to stay in Annabelle's pasture!

In a way it is nice to have the pasture occupied, seems to help keep the deer away a bit,

but it is taking some getting used to.  Buttercup moves a lot faster than Annabelle and makes different sounds.  I'm not sure if she is nice or not, so I put on a good act of not being nervous and took her some grass.  She came over to the fence and the longer she stood there without taking the grass the more nervous I got that she was going to nip me, and the more I told myself to not be afraid!  She did take it from me nicely so maybe we'll be friends.

Omlets and pancakes!

Derrick and Mag's wedding gift.  I had a blast!

And such is life, folks! You can't put it on pause, but you can have the Master of time and eternity help you through whatever it brings.  

And He won't just help you as minimally as possible, He will bless you!

Back to 'normal' life...

As a magnet on Amy's fridge says, "Normal is just a setting on the washing machine."

After Daddy and Momma left, life returned to 'normal' which is forever changing and developing.  I thought I had a completely empty week, and was a little worried since I didn't have any projects planned that I was going to get bored.  I didn't think to pray about it, =( but God saw to it anyway, that that I wouldn't be bored!  Before they left on Monday, I got a text from Ashley saying that if I wanted something to do, several were going to be down at her house addressing invitations and I'd be welcome to come hang out.  I biked down there (takes about 1 minute!) and had a great time with the bride-to-be (got to see her BEAUTIFUL dress!), Addie, Shelley, Coral and Bodi, Vanessa-mom, Aunt Polly, and Vicki, who says that she always has to check to see who's speaking when I talk because she keeps thinking it is my 2nd cousin Kayla!  The people with the nice handwriting wrote (if yours is REALLY pretty, Addie wrote it!) and others of us slipped the invitations in and put postage stamps on.  It was fun to be with everyone and help out.  So excited for Ashley and Blake!

Tuesday...

Addie texted and said she had a chiropractor appointment, did I want to come along and meet her dr.  I've been looking for a chiropractor (I miss you, Dr. O'Leary!) and was interested in seeing how hers worked, so I was excited to go with her... Besides, she gets an 80% discount if she brings someone along!  I really like Dr. Craig and the way he works, but they don't work with insurance companies =(

Wednesday...

I went grocery shopping with Cherisa and Hailey (who slept the whole time).  It was very helpful to get my groceries and fun to be with them!

That evening Matthew took me to Buona Tavola, an Italian restaurant in San Luis Obispo.  I was happy because they had gluten free options!!  I got a fettuccine with a red sauce that had different kinds of birds in it, chicken, duck, don't remember what else!  yummm! Caesar salad for appetizer, and some little tiny donut thingies that you dip in raspberry sauce for dessert.  Now for dessert Matthew got the amazing 'Tartufo Italiano Al Cioccolato'. Which is : "dark chocolate gelato covered with cocoa powder, chocolate and finely ground hazelnuts, topped with espresso" As the water/bus boy ( a college student by our guess, and we are not sure if he was authentically Italian with a drop into American lingo and accent, or an American with good acting abilities! ) anyway, he agreed that the tartufo is 'muwah!' as he gestures with a kiss to his expressive hand.  Quite an interesting experience! The waiter we could hardly understand at ALL, definitely authentic, and I just pointed to what I wanted, there was no way I was going to attempt saying it! =/   

 Then we walked to Peet's Coffee shop where I can get one shot of hazelnut coffee with almond milk!  Yes, I drink coffee :o !!  We enjoyed our coffee, walked around downtown, which always includes popping into the apple store ;) and then back to the car, all fat and happy!

Thursday...

Was great fun!  Several ladies were going to clean at Derrick and Mag's house, I was excited to go along and help out!  Annie picked me up, (thanks for the ride).

The master bedroom closet.

Aunt Sue sweeping the living area, dining area to the right, front door to the left.

Annie was kind enough ;) to drop by Mom's to get my huge container of scrap material.  When I got back, I spread it all out on the floor to try to decide HOW TO GET RID OF IT ALL!

Matthew has a soft spot for denim quilts, which I didn't know before we got married, and so do I.
I already have quite a few plain denim squares, but thought, hey, a girl can have a denim blanket, too!
There were two different pink flower prints on denim.

Thursday evening, we took a 'picnic' to Cayucos.  We sat in the car and ate, and then took a walk.  Remind me to always wear leggings and at least two sweatshirts to the beach, please! I am ALWAYS freezing cold there :-/ But it was a really pretty evening and fun to walk the beach, watch the waves (and the dogs! shhh, don't tell Matthew...).

 Friday...

Kathy picked me up around 9:30 or so after a hectic morning at her house (imagine that ;) and drove us down to Avila to bike the Bob Jones Trail.  Oh yes, so she wouldn't miss our driveway, I put my Canadian flag out in the flag holder on the fence near the mailbox!  It was so fun!  But I took it down before I left, I didn't want it sabotaged or anything!

Sorry, bad photographer ;(

Beautiful day down there and a lovely bike ride!

Quick story, an embarrassing one, so yes, you want to read it! ;)

As we coasted along down the paved path, we passed lots of people walking, jogging, running..etc.  Kathy was kind enough to usually go in front and I followed single file.  One time she was a bit behind me anyway, so I went ahead and went first.  Got to the right side because there were some people coming towards us.  I shifted gears and it made a funny sound, so I looked down.  When I looked up there was an older-middle aged couple RIGHT in front of my bike tire!  EEEPP!  I was too close to swerve off the trail, thankfully wasn't going REALLY fast, but I had to brake, and I hoped against hope that my tires wouldn't screech....  Sqweeekkk!  My heart sank and face flamed red as they leaped off the trail.  I apologized sincerely, and they were very sweet about it, thankfully.  I felt horrible...

After biking we went to Costco and then she took me to Chipotle for lunch - after we shook hands on standing next to each other at sing that night! ;)

Hailey getting so big and cuter every day!

 Saturday...

Matthew's windshield wipers have been missing paint,
so he got some spray paint and... 

....got them nice and new looking!  Didn't get a picture
of them back on the car, but looks SO much better.

 I forget what else we did that day, but got several little things done, that just needed DOING!  Relaxing day and always fun to be with my best friend.

Kevin grilling steaks.
That evening some of the guys got together for a bachelor party for Derrick!
I was really glad they did it for him, but had to fill my evening so as to not be too lonely!
They ate a totally guys' dinner of steaks, chips, salad (good for them), oreos, and Starbucks java chip ice cream!  Then they played volleyball and had a fire as far as I understand, sorry guys if that isn't quite right! ;)

Sunday there was a sing at the senior home, then gathering at Dwight and Tanya's.  It was fun to see their place, and play volleyball.

I think this was Monday.

The daffodils were in full bloom!

I painted the mailbox with the leftover black spray paint.  Then I called up Mrs. Neilson to see if she had any red paint.  She had acrylic which I used on the flag.  Who knows how long it will last, but it is nice and red for now!

So a quick preface for the next post...
Soon after Matthew started working at Grizzly Youth Academy, they let him know he was going to the CUE conference in Palm Springs around March 20th.  He did some inquiring and we planned on me going as well.  I was so excited!....

The Beginning of March

 Well, well...  Long time no posting!  Hello folks!  How have you been?

My life over the last month has been fairly interesting, to me at least, and I hope it will be to you as I take you on a journey of it!

This is driving up Highway 1 to Matthew's work.  Always pretty especially so right now
with the hills green and the fog rolling in and out.

The Tuesday after Daddy and Momma arrived, Daddy took Matthew to work
so I could have our car for taking my driving test!  Ahhhh! Scary, especially since I'd
never driven in the area it was to take place... ;-/  But I passed, by a middling margin, and went
thrifting and grocery shopping with Momma.  That evening I went to pick up my hubby from work.
This picture (Madonna Mountain, or technically Cerro San Luis I think is the peak) was taken on my way to get him.
I was going to wait at the gate to Camp San Luis, but when I pulled off to the side, the guard came out and asked what I was there for.  I told him, and he remembered the situation since Matthew had hitchhiked from the gate to the Wagon Wheel that morning when Daddy dropped him off.  He let me in and I got to see where Matthew works and meet a few of the cadets, two of which Matthew had had long conversations with that day.  They really seem to open up to him and come to him for more than just computer problems.  We'd appreciate your prayers for him in his work!

The next day, Wednesday, I had a small luncheon for a few of the ladies.  I had suggested just asking 4 since I don't have much space, but it was hard enough getting it down to 5!  They were a joy to have, I thoroughly enjoyed showing off my tree house and serving them lunch.  It was delightful to hear them chatting quietly, and then a bit louder and then a bit LOUDER, and then hahahahahahah!!!  =)  Loved that and sitting with them some.  Thanks for coming, and for the little gifts!

Really enjoyed getting out on a few walks with Momma.
Fun to show her the neighborhood and get fresh air and exercise together.

This is a bit weird, but a solemn story.  My neighbor, Annabelle the donkey,
was put to sleep on Thursday.  It was very hard for our landlady to do, but the
donkey was ancient and well passed the prime of life, if the poor thing ever had
a 'prime'.  Being around the situation often when working, I knew what a difficult
 decision it was for her.  We wanted to do something for Mrs. Neilson, and Matthew thought
of putting flowers on the body of the donkey, which we did when we got home from dinner with
Momma and Daddy at someone's house.

I was hoping for a nice day to take Momma and Daddy to the beach to relax
and just chill for a bit together.  We didn't end up having a choice of which day,
were lucky to have a spare day at all, and it wasn't the niceset to be at the beach!
Chilly and windy, but still with its own beauty.  Here, Momma and I found a sheltered cove,
while we waited for Daddy to find a hat to shade his bald spot ;)

The cart to this kite rig is next to a rock and hard to see, sorry.  This guy uses his surfing kite
to power this three-wheeled go-cart thingy.  He wears a helmet, shin and elbow guards, and
a bunch of gear.  It is quite the sport!  Not only are you flying a kite and using its power to
propel yourself, but also using your feet to steer the front wheel, AND go around rocks, seaweed,
people, in and out with the waves.... I held my breath while watching him.  Very interesting!
 Let's see if I can find a better picture....

Morro Rock on the right side of this picture.

Pinnacles!!

So we told Daddy and Momma that when they came, we'd take them to Pinnacles.
I knew Momma especially would like it.  So we did!

Momma carried her own water, Daddy had Matthew's Camelbak and Matthew insisted on being a gentleman and carrying mine, so he wouldn't look like a wimp being the only one not carrying something!  So whenever I wanted a drink, I had to catch him!

On the 'steep and narrow' section.

Going to the caves!  More were open than when Matthew and I went, and wow!
Yikes! Not quite my cup of tea, crawling around under rocks in the dark!  Eep!
Especially with Momma right in front of me and Daddy right behind!  Just a little claustrophobic!
But it was really fun, Momma thought the caves were the best part, I think, so that made it worthwhile ;)

~Ashley's Shower~

Sunday afternoon was Ashley's shower.

The girls (Addie, Coral, and Shelley, I believe) did a nice job decorating
and putting it together.

Gifts!

Hailey!

A young lady, that Ashley was a doula for last fall, arrived a bit late, and was in the back where I was.  Her baby was born in November, I think, and it was fun to talk to her.  She was really sweet and fun.

Daddy and Momma heading out Monday morning.  Heading back to cold, snow, and wind! =)  Come see us any time!

And now I should get out of the sun before I get a sunburn!  It has chased me until I have no shade left back here on the porch!  There are more pictures and a lot more living left in March, so I will post again soon!  All the best!