April 30, 2011
Well, I never got a picture of all of my friends at the conference, but I did get one with the book Charles Kraft wrote, which I borrowed from my friend Tammy. I should have asked to take a picture with Chuck!! : )
The second day of the conference was just as good as the first and I learned a lot! I'm not really sure what the next steps are with this topic, but I am looking forward to reading the book and seeing what God wants to do.
April 29, 2011
Today I went to a conference led by Charles Kraft called "Deep Wounds, Deep Healing". I was really nervous to go, imagining having to go up on the stage in front of everyone and tell them all of the deep wounds that are in my life...but it was nothing like that. It was actually a very good conference. I really like the man who is leading it, Chuck. He has written books and is a teacher at Fuller Seminary. It was a great beginning, and we go back tomorrow for a full day to finish up what we started today. 15 people from World Impact are at the conference, which is good that we are all learning about the same things that we can use in our ministry, and it also makes it more fun!
April 28, 2011
Today I just stayed home and relaxed, did a few errands and my laundry. It was a nice day to just get stuff done I don't usually have time to do during the busy weeks of the school year. I love when I get all of my laundry done and put away (I don't love doing laundry, just the result when it is all done). Everything feels fresh and new and ready to go! So, nothing too exciting for today's picture, just my closet with all my clean clothes in it. : )
April 27, 2011
Today Meredith and I made jam, from scratch!! I had never made jam before, but we decided that would be a fun spring break project, so we jumped right in deciding to make strawberry jam. (While we were looking for directions on how to make jam, Meredith found a band named homemade jam. We listened to them for a minute while we were cooking...)
Here we are, cooking away. This was towards the end of the cooking, we were close to being done now. We decided to cook in the school kitchen since both have pretty small kitchens and it would be easier clean up.
The strawberries cooking away on the stove. Looking good!
This is my finished product! We made very small batches of jam today, just to test it out. Plus this way we didn't have to jar and preserve it, maybe we'll try that next time.
April 26, 2011
I spent Easter weekend in Ventura with my family. We had a great time together, but at some point I had to come back to LA. Today I spent most of the morning coming home. I took my time and enjoyed the view along the way! I made 5 stops before I got home...here they are.
Stop 1: was the gas station. I didn't take a picture of that!!
Stop 2: Strawberries from Ventura (only the best!!).
I had to get a half flat of strawberries so Meredith and I could make some jam. We're planning on trying tomorrow, but neither one of us has made jam before, so we'll see how it goes!!
Stop 3: Coffee
Probably the most important stop along the way! It is always necessary to have a good coffee drink when you have to drive, even if the drive is only a little over an hour long...
Stop 4: The Beach
Isn't it amazing that this is the view along my way home? Sometimes I forget I'm driving because I can't stop looking at the beautiful scenery around me. Today I had to stop and get some pictures, because I just couldn't stand how beautiful it was.
Stop 5: Movies
Once I was back in the city I stopped by Red Box and picked up some movies for the evening, Country Strong and King's Speech. I loved both of them. It's nice to be home!
April 25, 2011
I didn't make any cake pops yet, but I sure want to! My mom has a cake pop book and I was making plans of all the cute pops I want to make for all the different occasions that are coming up. We'll see how many I actually get to! I didn't want to take my mom's book, so I wrote down the basic instructions and took pictures to be sure I remembered what to do. : )
First you make the cake and mix it with frosting. But before you mix in the frosting the cake has to be crumbles up into pretty small pieces...
Well, the last picture that actually shows the pops I want to make first won't load for some reason. So, everyone will just have to be surprised!
April 24, 2011
Today we had an Easter egg hunt in the front yard. There are only two small(ish) children in our family right now, so my two nieces got to have a lot of fun finding all of the eggs themselves (my niece Taylar (19) and my nephew Luke (15) decided not to play this year...) And even though there were only two of them, Hannah and Georgia still managed to turn it into a full contact egg hunt, with injuries all around!
We started out blind folding them, so that they wouldn't see any of the eggs as they walked out of the house. I wanted to spin them around too, but that was vetoed by the rest of the family. : )
Here they are in the middle of the hunt, taking time out for a picture! Hannah already had a knee injury, and Georgia climbed right in the bushes to get the egg she saw, fearless!
After the hunt was over they were both happy with LOTS of eggs in their baskets!
She was very excited and took us all on drives around the neighborhood. All of my nieces were also very excited and got in to play right away...
I don't think Georgia should be driving any time soon!! : )
They all gave the new car a big thumbs up!! (sorry, both of these pictures were taken through the window, so they are not that great, but the girls all look so cute, I had to use them still...)
Later on I was making some strawberry pies, and Hannah and Georgia decided to help.
Hannah whipped up the whipped cream (in a cool Tupperware whipper that worked great!!) and had a little taste.
Georgia used the mixer and mixed everything together. She did a great job!! She had plenty of tastes too, but you can't see it on her face yet.
April 22, 2011
Today we went out to visit my grandparents and aunts in the country (it's really the high dessert, but it seems like the country to me...). They live in Lake Los Angeles, near Palmdale and Lancaster. We went out to have lunch with them and visit before Easter.
My niece Hannah took this picture, it is so cute of my mom and my grandma.
My grandma, aunt and niece spending some time together on the swing.
After lunch, my nieces, Hannah and Georgia, got to take a ride on my aunt's horse, Katie. It was so much fun seeing them so excited and loving their ride!
I didn't realize Kobe was going to be there!! I guess he wanted a ride before his big game tonight! : )
April 21, 2011
Today was our last day of school before Spring Break!! It was a long haul getting here, and no one could say that we all, teachers and students, weren't ready for it. In celebration of Spring Break finally arriving, and a few other things, we had a staff breakfast of pan dulce and coffee. Also, many friends brought Easter treats to share on our last day before break. My desk looked so cute, I had to take a picture.
And the best news: once we return from Spring Break, there are only 6 weeks until summer!! : )
April 20, 2011
Sometimes, when I'm really stressed or when I have a lot on my mind, or when I'm just bored, I have a dance party all by myself. It usually starts out playing Just Dance, and then I think to myself, "I could come up with better moves than these..." so I turn off the wii, turn on the iTunes, and start to dance all over my apartment. I often wonder what the neighbors are thinking, but in the end, I don't think I really care! : )
Sadly, I have not taken a picture of myself during one of my dance parties (hahaha), so we get a picture of my play list. This is the newest dance party mix I have created, and so far I love it!!
April 19, 2011
Today the order from my Tupperware party came in! I was so very excited to get all the fun stuff that my friends and I ordered.
It was so much fun going through everything and previewing all of the great stuff other people ordered. And then I got to deliver it all to my friends!
I also got A LOT of great stuff of my own. Because I was the hostess I got a thank you gift, two half priced items and $90.00 to spend in the catalog! Here's all of my stuff (minus one thing that is on back order...)
PS. Tonight I cooked one of the artichokes I bought (from yesterday's post), and as I was taking all the steaming hot leaves off, I found a worm... and then I couldn't eat it. I'll have to try again with the other one.
April 17, 2011
Today Tracy and I went to see Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
It was amazing as expected! I have seen this dance company once before in LA, and didn't think it would get any better, but it did! I walked away once again wishing I had that much talent and wanting to dance all around my apartment! : )
I know this is highly illegal, but I took a picture of a picture of them in my favorite piece that they dance, Revelations, and one of my favorite positions during the performance. I absolutely LOVE the way they look during this part of the dance.
I also found a video on Alvin Ailey's web site that shows pieces of this dance being performed. I have watched it a few times already, you should watch it too!! http://vimeo.com/10185543
April 16, 2011
Today was a hot day in LA! To escape the heat of the morning we headed out to the flower mart. : ) It's always nice and cool in those buildings, so it was a good choice!
There were tulips everywhere we looked today. I loved all of the fun spring colors.
But of course I had to buy some Lisianthus and Ranunculus, my two favorites!
April 15, 2011
Today we headed out after school to a photography exhibit called "Extreme Exposure", located at The Annenberg Space for Photography in Century City. I didn't really know what to expect by that title, but I was in for a big surprise! There were photos from 5 different photographers who put themselves into extreme situations to get their shots. It was amazing!! Pictures of leopard seals attacking a camera (with a man on the other end), volcanoes exploding around you, huge prints of black and white swamps with every detail crystal clear, African animals up close and personal, amazing photos of amazing beauty on our Earth. I loved the exhibit!
Of course Tracy, Janice and I also had fun posing around the amazing grounds of the building and in the Coffee Bean that happened to be on the same grounds...what a perfect day!!
April 14, 2011
Tonight at my family group, my wonderful friend Janice shared her life story. It was great! I love learning more about the people in my group, so I am so happy we all decided to share life stories this year. Janice spent some time in Africa, and learned to play the drum there.
We also get some really great dinners and desserts at family group! The Gutierrez family made dinner tonight, and the highlight for all of us was the chocolate lava cake and cookies and cream ice cream we had for dessert!!
April 14, 2011
So, as you may know, I have been obsessed with clouds for a while now. Every time I walk down the street I look up at the sky to see what shapes I can find in the clouds. The past couple of pictures I have posted have been pretty obvious as to what I saw in them, but this one is a little bit more of a stretch...
Here's a hint: think of the movie UP. They see the same thing in the clouds. : )
April 12, 2011
The Happiest Place on Earth! That's where we ended up today. Our year passes to Disneyland are about to expire at the end of the month, so we had to get in one last trip all together. For the past year one of our goals was to leave after school on a Tuesday when we didn't have a staff meeting, head down to Disneyland and hang out on Main Street to people watch and drink coffee. Today was the day we finally got to do that!
Of course we did some other things while we were there too, but sitting with our coffees and watching the thousands of different people walk down the street was a dream come true for us.
We're all a little sad that our passes are expiring so soon, and all the fun we had this past year will be over. But it was a great treat for the past year, and who knows, maybe in a year or two we'll do it again! : )
April 11, 2011
Growing up I always heard that a messy chef is the best chef. Today as I was cleaning powdered sugar and cocoa powder off the counter tops, off the walls, off of my clothes and out of my hair, I wondered if that was true. I guess we'll see tomorrow when we eat the espresso fudge truffles that I was making when the mixer shot the ingredients all over my kitchen and myself. I wanted to take a picture, but my hands were a mess and I didn't want to touch my camera! : )
Here's the final product! They were supposed to be almond fudge truffles, but I don't like the way almond extract makes things taste, so I changed them to espresso fudge. Yum, I can't wait to try them!!
