HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Have a safe and happy Halloween. John and I will be at SURGE tonight. Yippee!!

Irritations

These are the two things that irritate me the most and cause me to be in the mood I am right now:

1. Migraines - I have this one for 3 days now and can't shake it. I have taken all kinds of medications and am not eating anything differently but it is affecting my whole life and especially work.

2. People - not just people in general, but people that just give up and don't ask questions. I am struggling to get some people to understand that it is ok to ask questions and that I am not really a scary person. I have a lot of general information that I am willing to share to make other's lives a little easier, if only they would ask.

These things that are irritating me are not just permeating my personal life, but also my work environment. I am in such a horrible mood right now, that I just want to go home and cry myself to sleep.

heartache

I have really been struggling with my role in youth ministry. I know that I cannot be the ONE THING that "saves" kids, but I don't like to see them hurting either. I just don't know what to do or say to the people that I know are hurting. It is horrible what these kids are going through these days. More and more awful things are happening to our youth, things that I would never wish on anybody, ever. It is a sad reality, but I want to be able to do SOMETHING and I don't know what.

It is depressing.

Back in Issy

I will always miss being in Issaquah. I love it here, this is home to me no matter how far away I am. I am back for "my best friend's wedding." I am so excited to be sharing in Lauren and Tim's big day. It is going to be a blast. Well, I better go get ready for the festivities to begin.

Today: dentist appointment, lunch with grandma then the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

P.S. The cool weather is a nice relief, but dang is it cold compared to California.

Labor Day in Vista

Here are some pictures from our trip to Vista last weekend for Labor Day. We spent a lot of time relaxing in and around the pool at John's mom's house. Some activities included visiting the Scripp's Aquarium, La Jolla Cove and the Dodger's vs. Padres game at Petco Park. All in all......best weekend we've had in a long time. Enjoy!!

Deserving

The time has finally come for John and I to take some sort of "vacation." We are heading to Oceanside for a short (but free) stay thanks to Mark Wilson. It has been a long, short week at work if you know what I mean and I am ready to be out of Northridge again.

Heat Wave

I can't handle this hot California weather any more! I am moving back to Washington where it is cooler and sunny. I am tired of the triple digit temperatures of Southern Cal.

Leavin'

Going home for the weekend. Celebrating the soon to be Mrs. Castro and seeing my new nephew for the first time (in person)!! Gotta go, my plane is a leavin'.

Birthday Wishes

Happy birthday Gma Rhoda. Hope today is as good as the past 33580 days. See you soon.

Shake, Shake, Shake

second earthquake this month....gearing up for a BIG ONE!!

First: Aug. 9th magnitude 4.2
Today: Aug. 16th magnitude 3.5
Both earthquakes were just north of Chatsworth, CA (4 miles)

Hunger

Spent the morning at the Children's Hunger Fund. This is an annual service project for the junior high kids at our church. Today we packaged school supplies for children that don't have paper, pens, folders, etc. The kids seem to really enjoy helping at the Hunger Fund even though it was HOT!! Now they are busy working on cleaning the Youth Closet in Fellowship Hall, while I sit in my air conditioned office typing this post (oh, I mean while I am working hard)! Ahhh, the joys of being an advisor.

Do I have to?

Finally going to get some use out of my gym membership that I have had for nearly 2 years. I think I have only gone to the gym twice. Once to sign up for the membership and then once to use the free personal training session I got when I signed up.

After going to Chatsworth Karate on Saturday night, I realized how out of shape I really am. All I did was punch and kick a bag for a few times, but man am I sore. I could barely hold a pen my arms hurt so bad. Oh well, I am done complaining (I think) and now I am going to do something about it.

John and I are doing a kickboxing class at Bodies in Motion if anyone cares to join us. We are going today at 5:30 or you can call us and we'll go with you another time.

Helping Hands

This month at church the pastors are focusing on "social justice" and how we can make a difference. This reminds me of a few things.

Have you heard of Zach Hunter's "Loose Change to Loosen Chains?" Zach is a young kid who started collecting loose change from everywhere to help free slaves. He has raised a ton of money and freed many slaves, all because he cares.

What about World Vision or Compassion? These are great organizations too that help people in third world countries. How about sponsoring a child? It is only $30 a month and you give them clean water, health care, education and a spiritual partner. A small amount of money each month can save a child's life. I have been sponsoring a child through Compassion for 2 years now and it is such a joy to receive letters from Telvin telling me about his schooling, his family and above all how much he loves Jesus.

Change does not happen over night, we all know that. Change just takes action, saying yes. It doesn't even have to be a big action. I challenge you to look inside and to pray about what you can do to make a global impact.

Baby Nephew

This is my brother and sister in law's first baby. His name is Trevor Aaron Garrott Snow. He was born yesterday, August 4, 2007. He is a tank. He weighs 11 lbs. 2 oz. and is 21 inches long. HUGE!! No wonder he wouldn't come out. Welcome to this crazy world TAGS!! Congrats Ted and Ann. I love you guys.

Honduras

It was a long trek across the country of Honduras but we made it back to California relatively unscathed. Just a FEW bug bites (26 to be exact)!! We had an amazing time hanging out with children and church members in Choluteca, Honduras. We helped the local contractor build a front porch area to the church equipped with steps and a ramp. It was lots of shoveling dirt and mixing cement on the ground, but we survived. Don't discount the heat too. It was in the high 90s and probably over 100 degrees with more than 90% humidity all week. YUCK!! After a week in Choluteca, we headed North for our short stay in the city of Copan. While we were here we got to see the Mayan ruins at Copan, the bird sanctuary, a coffee plantation and went horseback riding to a hacienda. It was a great trip. A good mix of work, play and sightseeing. If you want more stories you have to ask. Here are a few pics from our travels.

A Glorious Homecoming

After several weeks away, John is finally on his way home. We both thoroughly enjoy youth ministry, but it doesn't help the marital relationship when he HAS to go to camp. Oh well, thank God for the telephone. It is not all fun and games though now that he will be home. We have another mission trip to plan in only one week.

Some of you may have gotten a letter from us asking for donations for our trip to Brazil. Thank you for your help and prayers, but our trip has been......"redirected." It was not in God's plans for us to travel to Brazil. We had numerous problems with our airline (COPA). I think they must be going out of business or something because one by one our flights were cancelled. They are no longer flying to Brazil. We tried desperately to find another airline that would give us a good deal but to no avail. We were forced to cancel the long expected trip. Fortunately, we were able to get another mission to Honduras. We were going to travel to Honduras and still meet up with ROW (Rivers of the World). There was some bad luck there too, because they originally said "sure, no problem" but found out they were overbooked.

So now we are going to be visiting a church that our church helped build two years ago in Choluteca, Honduras. We will be doing some manual labor on the church, potentially dedicating it and serving the first communion. Some other plans include: Vacation Bible School, touring a coffee plantation, attending school with some children, going to see some ruins from the Mayans and checking out the beautiful waterfalls and thermal waters.

I think this trip is going to be fascinating and a great experience for the youth in our high school group. Please continue to pray for safety, health and rest for this group of kids and especially John as he keeps going like the Energizer bunny.

Love you all!!

Well since John totaled my car a few weeks ago, we spent the entire day Saturday out shopping (and buying) for a car. It was 105 degrees in Valencia where we were and we couldn't do anything but sweat. Every time you opened a car door to look inside, it felt like your eyes were being burned and your eyebrows singed. It was a scorcher. At the end of the day (after 6:30 p.m.) we drove off the Honda lot with a brand new 2007 CR-V. It is so cute. I don't have my digital camera so I downloaded some pics for you from the Honda website. The interior of our car is gray cloth, not tan interior. But you get the idea. Our's also does not come with the navigation system. This is obviously the upgraded, more expensive model. Although our's does have the sun roof and 6 disc changer. Ooh la la.
It's fun and we enjoy it and it gets us around. Or at least me while John is out of town.

My mom's family's first home in Oregon. I think there were only like 2 or 3 bedrooms for all 6 of them (4 kids and 2 parents).

My aunt and uncle and cousins with the Princess (me) and my mom.

Jenny prancing or leaping, not really sure what the heck is going on.

My mom and her sister taking a stroll along the beach and "having a moment."

Life's Challenges

Alright, here it is cuz.....the PRINCESS is back in action on her blogging. In case you haven't noticed, I haven't blogged in FOREVER. So here I am. I got a raft of crap from my cousins while I was visiting them in Portland a few weeks ago. Both of them are out of the area and don't get to see me often, so they have been checking my blog, or lack there of. I promised them I would get back on and keep everyone posted on my life.

Everone always says your marriage will be tested once you experience a lot of stress or traumatic occurences. John and I must have a pretty strong marriage then. My grandfather passed away a few weeks ago after suffering a heart attack. It was so hard on me seeing that I am all the way in California away from ALL my family and especially Gpa. I couldn't decide if I should fly up right away or wait a few days to see how the surgery went. In the end, I waited and now I regret it. I didn't get to tell my grandfather how much he meant to me. It was so hard, but John was right there by my side the entire way. He made every effort to travel with me to Portland for the funeral and services and to comfort me in my time of grief and extreme emotional meltdowns.

My grandfather was such a fun guy. Whenever I was sick or just didn't have anything to do, I would go to their apartment and would instantly be "all better." Grandpa always took me to the driving range or miniature golfing (he was an avid golfer). Grandma and Grandpa always gave me what I wanted: good food, ice cream, candy, a dog (since I never had a pet) and love. I will never forget spending the night and walking into their bedroom and seeing Grandpa's eyes wide open. I used to get so freaked out, I never knew if he was spying on me, or just sleeping with his eyes open. Oh and Grandpa always made the best food and after dinner we ALWAYS played a few games of Yahtzee. My grandfather was a game player and it never failed that he always won, why, because he was a cheater! He would steal my points in Cribbage, change the dice during Yahtzee if I wasn't looking, or counted the points in his hand faster than I could add in my head. But nevertheless, I loved playing with him. Even though I didn't get to say goodbye and tell him that I love him, I have many great memories. The last memory and time I spent with Grandpa was during my wedding when I did a tribute Hula for my grandmother and John. I know that his last memory of me was a happy and special one.

I LOVE YOU GRANDPA! Tell Grandma I love her too.

What is that?!

So I have decided that I need physical activity. You know how they say that the first step toward recovery or healing is recognizing you have a problem? Well I recognize it (that I need exercise) but I am still lacking the motivation. I have no desire to leave from work at 5 p.m. go to the gym and workout for an hour. I would rather go home and sleep, but I know I need to workout because I am always so tired and bored. Let's just say I have slept more in the past few days than I have been awake. It doesn't help that my motivation and gym buddies are out on the river delta having fun and wakeboarding without me (yes I am just a little bitter, but I am getting better).

That reminds me of a lesson John just taught at SURGE. Haha, it is funny how random typing makes you think of things and then that leads to other things that help resolve the first thing. John taught about how we should not get bitter when we get angry. The thought for the week was, "Get better, not bitter." I think God is trying to tell me something right this very minute. I need to get better, not be bitter and just mope around, I need to do something with myself. But for now, I have to go back to work. --Peace!