These are the days

"These are the days.."  The lyrics from that classic 1990s song have been stuck in my head tonight.  School is right around the corner.  Life is busy with a too-full-too-fast calendar, work stress, online classwork, hard cross country workouts, AP summer reading and this hot/hot/humid summer heat.  But thankfully there is also an abundance of memory making and fun times together.

These are the days for excellent movie choices.  Movies we have loved this summer include Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Spiderman: Homecoming, Transformers: The Last Knight, Pirates of the Caribbean 5, Wonder Woman, and Dunkirk.  

These are the days of many small jobs for both Rhiannon and Wade.  Both were a little concerned about how they were going to make some dough this summer, but they've kept busy with all kinds of jobs, from pet-sitting to trench-digging.  

These are the days of backpacking for Jason and Wade.  As I type this, the two are downstairs packing for a 3-day backpacking adventure with friends this weekend.   I love that they have this tradition, and I hope they have a blast! (They have also had a lot of fun on some golf trips, either out of town or to the local golf course on base).

These are the days of Parks and Rec watching for me and the kids.  After finishing (and re-watching) The Office on Netflix, we moved on to Parks and Rec and have gotten some big laughs from it.

These are the days of Girls Camp/Boyz Gone Wyld Week.  That was last week.  Rhiannon and I had a really good experience up at Camp Wilderness with our stake, and the boys had some good bonding time here at home.  More on Girls Camp in a later post--I could write a book about it!

These are the days of healing.  Rhiannon had her foot surgery on June 21, right after we got back from our UT/ID trip.  The surgery went very well and she has done a great job following doctor's orders.  It sure has been a work-in-progress, though!  She has moved from the walking boot to tennis shoes, but the foot is still too swollen to wear flats to church.  She's been a good sport about it all and we are very proud of her.

These are the days of Wade trying cross country with other middle school students.  It is HARD for Wade, really hard, but we are hopeful that he'll continue and learn that he is indeed capable!  Slow and steady wins the race!

I'm glad for the thought I had tonight to come and capture this night, this summer.  There are many more things I could type, but for now, I just want to remember this night of fish foil packets and fried rice for dinner, of the boys bustling around packing for their mountain trip, of Rhiannon grabbing the Star Wars Force Awakens movie to go watch at a friend's house (Katie J), of desert humidity and a cloudy night sky.  I wanted to capture my grateful heart in this moment.  I am so thankful for these days!

Musings on a Tuesday night

5 years from now, Rhiannon will be 21 and Wade will be 18.

It takes my breath away to think about the change that is ahead, but it also motivates me to enjoy all of my time with them while they're home, all of it, the slow times, the fast times, the busy-busy and the "Hey, Mom, come play table tennis with me" times.   Trying to be less "helicopter parent" and more "cutter of apron strings" is a work in progress, too.  No matter what, I hope Rhiannon and Wade feel our love for them!

We've been playing a lot of table tennis the past week, thanks to Wade.  He brought it down when Rhiannon was gone on her college tour last week, and the game has stayed set up unless we're eating at that table, ha-ha!  5 minutes here, 5 minutes there, he gets all of us to play with him at one time or another.  It's fun!  The dogs are getting used to our playing, too and know not to touch that ping pong ball.

Speaking of college tours, Rhiannon had the time of her life on that trip!  She visited 8 campuses in 3 days, got by on little sleep, had a blast with her roommates (friends from school that she got to pick), and came back super energized to get high school DONE and move on to the next chapter of her life.  She loved the University of San Diego, a private Catholic university--the only drawback is its v-e-r-y steep tuition cost.  In the next 3 months she will take the ACT and SAT and an AP exam and sign up for senior-year classes and figure out her top 4-6 college picks and visit a few more campuses over Spring Break on our family trip and and and and....  It's not hard to understand how she can feel a little stressed out sometimes!  We are excited for her and proud!  Oh, and that drivers license is finally just around the corner.  She has one more instructor lesson and then just needs to take the drivers test!

Jason is gone to a stake meeting tonight and has a day trip for work down to Northridge tomorrow.  Work is unbelievably stressful and 0% fun for him lately, but, man, I am so grateful for all that he does to provide for our family.  And he is so good about giving time to the kids and me, too, whether it's a Valentine's date and gorgeous flowers for me or going out of town with Wade to shop for golf clubs or letting his daughter go with him to Bishop two hours away for a Sunday church trip to spend time with her and let her practice her driving on the highway.  He's the best!

In the middle of all my crazy--church stuff and college stuff and work stuff and home stuff....and feeling a little out of control with all of that--I found an unexpected stress reliever--listening to podcasts!  So far I really like Power of Moms and This American Life.  Podcasts are kinda like radio shows, but more like you're sitting down listening to a conversation among friends, without the commercials and I get to pick what I like to listen to.  I download "episodes" to my phone (and then usually delete after), and listen while I'm walking the dogs or cleaning or folding laundry.  I knew I was on to something the other day when I kept trying to find tasks to do because my podcast wasn't over yet (WHAT???  HOW DID THAT HAPPEN! ;) )  I love it!

Today is a gift

Today has been a lovely Easter Sunday.  Church was nice.  One talk in particular, by our friend Lora Evans (who just got back from serving a mission in the Des Moines Iowa area), was very powerful.  She talked about the Atonement and it was amazing!  I wish I'd recorded and taken notes. 

After church we delivered "Easter dinner to-go" to our friends Howard and Sandi.  Sandi had just had foot surgery, and we were happy to stop by for a few minutes and say hello.  

This weekend we had a family date to see Batman v. Superman--it was a dark movie, but we enjoyed it.  We sure do love our super-hero genre movies!!!

That same day we had a Girls Night-Guys Night, too.  Rhiannon and I joined other ladies at Kristin Hawkins' home to eat and watch the Women's Session of conference.  The boys went out to Classic Burger in Inyokern!

This week Wade has a band concert and Rhiannon has a drumline competition.  We are feeding the sister missionaries on Thursday night, too.  The rest of the week is pretty normal, the usual fun! 

I'm looking forward to General Conference this weekend, too!

Facebook Fast

Last Sunday I was really impressed by Rhiannon's choice to have a "Facebook and YouTube" fast that day.  I followed her lead this weekend and have stayed far, far away from my favorite time-killer Facebook for two days.

A few thoughts I've had:

1) Our ancestors' trials were very physical.  Can you imagine having to boil water to wash loads of laundry, start a fire every meal to cook, etc?  One thought I've had is that our "test" in this day and age seems to be distraction. At least, I know it is for me.  I like to think that I get a lot accomplished every day, but I've been shocked to see how much MORE I've gotten done by not plugging into Facebook every free second that I have this weekend.

2)  I have to WORK at stepping away from this particular distraction!  One thing that has helped is that I've typed out my intentions in a journal I started on the computer.  Just the simple fact of  typing "tomorrow and Sunday I am going on a Facebook fast" helped me stick to my guns.  It also helped to remove the Facebook bookmark on my computer and just use my phone for necessities.  Then when I've been tempted to go surf, I'll ask myself, "Is there anything better I can do?  What needs done?"

Don't get me wrong, I love Facebook.  I find it a good way to share positive vibes, keep in touch with friends, get help with questions, and stay connected.  But I spend WAY. TOO. MUCH. TIME. on it.

3)  Tomorrow I'm starting that "decluttering" journey I've mentioned with friends for the whole month of February  (http://www.theminimalists.com/game/).  I've already found piles of "things" that are never used or broken, things that just need to go.  I also realized that I need to work on decluttering mentally and digitally.  I've found some very helpful articles on a site called:  No Sidebar

Wish me luck!

Wednesdays

Wednesday will be our busiest day of the week for the next couple months, especially in the evening. Starting at 6, everyone starts to scatter.  Rhiannon goes to drumline, Jason goes to Crossfit, and Wade goes to Scouts.  Last night we threw in extra fun and fed the sister missionaries serving in our ward, too.  (I'd forgotten I'd signed up and sure appreciated their reminder!)  I finally sat down after everyone was gone and worked on my institute lesson for next week.

The nice thing about having a busy Wednesday night is that Thursday and Friday feel lighter and easier, especially for the kids!  I know many families are WAY busier than we are and take it all in stride.  We're normally NOT that busy, though, and like to have some breathing room!

Stories from my iPhone

Just for fun, here were some pics from my phone that make me smile:

Wade took this picture for me on the drive to school one day.  I practically threw my phone at him:  "Take a picture!!!"

Samson and Oscar know EXACTLY when I should be feeding them dinner!  They let me know, too!

This was yesterday--it was a beautiful, blustery kind of day.  The 73-degree weather was heaven!

Catching up on the last few weeks, list style

Since mid-August, here are some things we've been busy with:

--I gave a talk in sacrament meeting at church about following the Savior's example in our teaching

--Rhiannon and I joined several other moms and daughters from our ward and went to a music variety show at the high school put on by several friends of ours and members of the Ridgecrest Musical Enrichment Society.  Last year we went to their Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat production.  I'm always amazed at the talent in this community!  It was a great night.

--Rhiannon and I went on the youth temple baptism trip to the Los Angeles temple.  I snuck away and did an endowment session with others from our stake.  When we got out 3 hours later (LOTS of people in that Spanish-speaking session!), I found out that the kids had stayed in the visitor's center the whole time because a water main broke and the temple was closed for all other activities.  We drowned our disappointment in a tasty meal at Cheesecake Factory afterwards, haha!  I know those kids will be blessed for sacrificing their time that day.  Rhiannon stayed positive and said they had a good time watching Meet the Mormons.

--Our family went to Wade's first Boy Scout Court of Honor and were very surprised by all the badges and awards he got.  His 11-year-old Scout leader said he will miss Wade a lot when he turns 12 next month.  Can you tell Wade is growing in this picture? :)

--Aunt Lydia was on a roll one day making drawings for family members and friends.  She made our day with these:

I wonder what she'd come up with for Jason and Wade?  I'll have to ask her!

--general busy-ness with sub jobs, Back-to-School nights, band practices, piano lessons, decluttering a few things around the house, swimming (a little), gun practice with Dad, service projects and callings, and the daily grind.

--Other news to report:  the horrible seed bugs seem to have disappeared.  I'm not sure where they went, which is a little disconcerting!  We are also running out of things to replace--over the past few weeks we bought a washer and dryer, new computer, new printer, and new tires for the Infiniti.  Ouch!

--Labor Day weekend was wonderful this year!  Rhiannon played the cymbals with the high school band in our community's annual 9/11 parade.  It was our first time attending since it started 7 or 8 years ago.  We've been missing out!--it was really  neat to see so many American flags waving!  It was also cool to have a special guest at the front of the parade--our Congressman Kevin McCarthy, the House Majority Leader of the current US House of Representatives!

Other Labor Day fun included swimming, grilling (Jason's best steaks yet!!!), dinner with Howard Collins, and a fun pancake breakfast with our church family.  We all agreed that this long weekend was MUCH NEEDED and enjoyed to the fullest!

Life is good!

Happy Heart

Rhiannon leaves for seminary at 5:20 am. That's the only time I have her to myself until 3 pm, so we've been trying to say a little family prayer together before she goes. Last night I didn't set my alarm and slept in, missing Rhiannon by 4 minutes. She sent me this sweet little text, "I love you, Mom!"  As soon as I read that, my heart swelled so big that it hurt a little, and I got another tiny glimmer of how much God LOVES this girl! So grateful to be her mom!

Other happy news so far this week:

--A big weight was lifted off of Jason's shoulders at work with some successful testing on base

--Wade was voted to be one of 4 ASB (student body) representatives in his advisory class.  Every class chooses 4, so we're talking a lot of reps, but it was neat to know he'd been willing to try out for it and that some of his elementary school friends were telling people to vote for him. :)

--Rhiannon got a text from one of her friends who attended our missionary open house last weekend.  He wanted to know how to contact the missionaries! :)

--Wade tried out for percussion in his beginning band and got one of 4 slots.  A good week for this kid!

--Me?  I'm getting a much-needed haircut today.  Life is good! :)

A Monday morning at 7:21am

I had to smile at life in the Cushing home this summer morning.

As I type this, Rhiannon is pounding out some beautiful hymns ("Called to Serve" is going on right now--fast!)

Wade jumped on his bike at 7:00am to do his "pick up dog doo" job at the Collins' home.

Jason was up at 5:50am or so and off to work shortly after that.  He goes on business travel for the rest of the work week tomorrow--we will miss him!

The dogs are crashed out on the floor because they just finished a 3-mile walk with me.  It took an hour, but I did it!  (For my mental health, I don't know how much longer I can do these long walks with the dogs--Samson wants to stop and pee on e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g and Oscar wants to b-a-r-k at anything with 4 legs...!)

So much for sleeping in and being lazy!  I don't mind, though, because it is getting HOT here in Ridgecrest, highs up to 108 later this week, so getting things done in the morning when it's a tiny bit cooler is smart!!!

There's got to be a better way to meditate

Here's a post I made on Facebook this week:

I read last week that meditation is the hot new health trend for 2015. Huh, I thought. I had a few minutes this afternoon and thought I'd try it out for kicks. Amazon Prime Music had several 20-minute guided meditations, and the first one I tried was great! After about 5 minutes I was on a "golden beach where the water was tickling my toes". (no lie) Then I tried another one but had to stop--I was laughing SOOO hard because the voice was like a female version of Kip from Napoleon Dynamite!!! Laughter is a great stress reliever, too, haha!  

Be where your feet are

Christmas Day!

Jason's hard work on the kids' rooms!

New Years!

Christmas vacation!

2015 goals 

Back to school, back to work, back to subbing

An epic 39th birthday!

Our heavenly Christmas break ended with a thud last week.  Boy, it was hard for all four of us to put our game faces on and get back to it!  After a week and a half we are mostly back to normal, but we are already dreaming about a long 4-day break coming up in February, haha!

I was trying to find a "theme" or phrase that I could use for the new year.  Obviously "be more decisive" wasn't one of them because I ended up choosing 4, haha!  These have been running through my mind constantly and have been helpful!  Enjoy these until I can do a more serious blog update on the CA Cushings!

If this doesn't get you in the holiday spirit, I don't know what will!

Rhiannon and Wade practicing their Carol of the Bells duet--lovely!

My Snowmen craft that I made at our ward's Super Saturday--I love how they turned out, and, yes, I did make those hats! :)

On Veteran's Day, Rhiannon and I drove friends down to the Los Angeles Temple day.  It was a quick, busy, fun, exhausting day, and I'm glad we went and came back safely.  I love this picture of Rhiannon with her friend JenAi and our sweet friend and new ward member Sister Vignault.

This picture above is worth a thousand words.  Shortly after Grandma Sue got to Texas to spend time with my mom and dad, she had to be admitted to the hospital and then spend a week in an acute rehab facility.  This picture was taken during a FaceTime chat after Grandma had gotten out of that facility and was back with my parents.  So happy that she's feeling better!

On Friday Wade's school had their monthly Super Star assembly but went ALL OUT for Veteran's Day.  This was just one of the neat things they did during that assembly.  I was so glad I was there!

My chocolate order came in! :)

Caught the kids one night as they were quizzing each other.  They'd ring a bell every time they asked a question--too cute!

Verity's "happy" list

I thought I'd share my "happy" list of late, things that have made me smile or made me excited!

#1:  Working on Couch 2 5K.

This morning I completed the week 5, day 3 workout, and it was pretty tough for me.  I'll probably have to re-do it, and that's okay.  I am loving some things that make this attempt easier for me, though:

--running in the dark with the dogs while Rhiannon is at seminary.  I've done it for 5 weeks so far, 3 days a week faithfully.  This is big for me.

--the 5K runner iPhone app.  Genius.  Love.  It cues me when I need to start running, and I can play my own music over the top of it.  It's silly, but I also like the little "badges" I've gotten from reaching certain milestones.  The "Hidden Athlete" badge made me laugh but also made me feel good, too.  It's the little things, right?

--setting my exercise clothes out right next to my bed the night before.  This makes a huge difference.

--playlists on my iPhone.  Some songs that I've found particularly motivating so far are:  

"I Just Wanna Run," by Downtown Fiction

"I Will Wait" by Mumford & Sons

"We Are Young," by Fun.

"Miracle Mile," by Cold War Kids

"Lightning Strike," by Snow Patrol

"Crazy," by Gnarls Barkley

"Try," by Pink

"Move Along," by All-American Rejects

"Calling You," by Blue October

"Radioactive," by Imagine Dragons

"Chasing Cars," by Snow Patrol

"How You Like Me Now," by The Heavy

This endeavor hasn't been without its challenges, meaning that I am SORE as all get-out some days, but I'm pushing through and trying to be smart about it at the same time.

And just so we're clear, my "run," is more like a really fast walk. :)

#2:  Making progress with emergency preparedness.

Last month I "sorta" participated in Food Storage Made Easy's 7-Day emergency preparedness challenge.  I found myself thinking about it and making lists more than doing the challenges throughout the day.  That's okay.  I've been doing a lot of different things over the past few weeks, such as:

--updating 72-hour-kits

--updating first aid kit, throwing out expired supplies

--purchasing honey and chocolate in bulk orders (important, right?)

--purchasing a mobile washer for washing clothes in a bucket, flashlights, sanitation items, etc.

Right now I'm working on an emergency, grab-and-go binder with copies of important documents.  It's slow going but the fact that I've finally STARTED it is a big thing.

#3:  Scorpion on CBS.

This show just started, folks.  Don't miss it.  It's got my favorite things:  nerdy, super-smart geniuses with low social skills saving the world in a government-backed group.  So far I LOVE IT.

(Grandpa Rod, have you DVRed this one?  You should!)

#4:  My institute class

Last nights's institute class was my favorite one yet.  We spent nearly half the class time talking about our favorite General Conference talks.  It made me happy to realize that every single person in the class had watched Conference carefully and come away with something they needed.  We all felt the Spirit as we talked about the messages that had impacted us.  Then we dug into Doctrine and Covenants sections 42 and 44, had cookies, and sang "Happy Birthday" to one of our class members who CAME TO INSTITUTE ON HER BIRTHDAY.  Even I don't have that kind of dedication, and I teach the class, haha! It was a great night.

#5:  Kindness of others.  

I'd posted on Facebook a couple days ago, asking what to do about sore hamstrings.  The next day my friend Carol showed up in my driveway with a yoga DVD and a foam roller AND a list of massage people in town.  It made my day, and I was really impressed that she cared enough to do that.  I can learn a lot from that, to be more pro-active instead of using the standard, "please let me know if there's anything I can do."  What a sweet friend!

#6:  Cushing Family Camping trip this weekend!  WOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Life is good!

A quick, random update

Labor Day weekend was terrific:  major take-everything-out-and-earn-its-way-back garage clean-out.   We really didn't get rid of too much stuff in there, but it looks so pretty and big now, even with two of our vehicles and 3 bikes parked inside!  We enjoyed swimming, grilling steaks, watching Amazing Spiderman 2, and attending a church Labor Day breakfast--good times.

Jason has had to travel quite a bit and is home (mostly) for the next two weeks.  Heaven.  He's been busy lining up the process to have our air conditioning units and system replaced and redone, and also for 2 new gates outside.  (YAY!!!) He's also picked up running again to prepare for a Las Vegas Ragnar in November. 

We took Wade to his second-to-last Cub Scout pack meeting tonight.  Last night he attended a Boy Scout swimming activity that he needed to pass off the "outdoor activity" requirement for the Arrow of Light award.  He's close--we are very proud of him!  He should be getting that at the next pack meeting.  Wade got signed up for flag football and will start that the middle of October.  He's started the Couch to 5K running program and has been jumping on the treadmill bright and early a few times a week, too.

Rhiannon is taking high school, seminary, homework, and hard tests in stride.  After talking to some other friends whose kids are really struggling, I am so grateful for her easy-going nature and the minimal number of "freak-out" moments that she has.  She had a D in her honors geometry and raised  it two letter grades with her recent test, to a B.  First, the fact that she took that D and just rolled with it and didn't automatically jump to "I'm done, my life is over," says a lot about her.  Tomorrow night she will play with the symphonic band at the high school's first home football game.  Should be fun!  Oh, and she had a fantastic time at her first stake dance a couple weeks ago--she brought a friend with her, and her friend said it was better than a school dance, even with the tiny turnout.

Me?  Oh, I feel like I live in the van.  And that's okay.  :)  I subbed for 3 days straight in a 5th grade classroom and had a pretty good experience with that.  My Institute class prep is keeping me busy, as well as my "duties" helping with the Battle of the Books team at Richmond.  I got a sun oven (solar cooking) for an early Christmas/birthday/anniversary gift and I've had a BLAST cooking with that thing.  So far I've hard-boiled eggs without water, baked brownies, and baked bread--all with the sun, and all came out great!  I can't see myself using it every single day yet, but from an emergency preparedness standpoint, I'm hooked. :)  

Pictures later--life is good! 

Random, fun iPhone pics from April

I'm having some technical difficulties loading videos to the blog this morning.  Grrrr.  I guess I'll have to go back later and add them.  For now, to end my blogging spree this morning, here are some of my favorite random pictures taken off my phone:

70-pound Oscar dog sitting on my lap.  Yikes.  And, no, I didn't pose him.

Easter Bunny teeth on Samson!  Who needs decorations around the house when we've got him!

Toy Story clouds from Saturday.  The picture doesn't do them justice.

The Cushings are ready for the weekend!  The kids get off from school on Friday tomorrow, and Jason is going to take a day off to be with us and get us to mix work with play.  :)  Looking forward to it!

Visitors are good motivation

In anticipation of Grandpa and Grandma Sheen's visit this weekend, I've been looking at our home with fresh eyes.  I've tried to tackle some cleaning projects that needed done, like window washing, bathrooms, new bedding, and, the biggest one, reupholstering some kitchen chairs.

So far I've recovered 2 chairs with some red, expanded back vinyl fabric.  Jason says they look like bar stools now, but at least the fabric isn't shredded and we can't see through to the padding anymore, haha!

It felt good to feel "handy" with a rechargeable screwdriver and brand-new staple gun.  Two more chairs to go!

A long, busy day

It's 4 pm and I'm sitting down to take a breather.  It's been a busy day for me, by choice, and I'm happy but tired.  So I'm trying not to complain TOO much about my feet. :)

Worked out
Took dogs for a walk
Subbed for a 4th grade class
Did carpool for elementary kids
Did carpool for middle school kids
Picked up prescriptions
Took Wade somewhere for a haircut
Stopped by the grocery store
Dropped off items to the church
Made a potato salad

Home.  For a little while.

Then I'll finish up with helping to decorate at the church for our Relief Society birthday dinner tonight, enjoy that activity, and then clean up.

Jason took the kids to Taco Bell for dinner and they enjoyed a quiet night at home.

Tomorrow will be a little less go-go-go and more get-stuff-done-at-home!

Update:

The RS activity was a blast.  There was a light but tasty dinner, homemade ice cream cakes, and a gift exchange.  Good turnout, lots of fun!  And I got home by 8:30--yay!

Downer was when I pulled out of the parking lot and the tire light came on in the van.  This morning the back left tire is totally flat.  Grateful for a 3rd vehicle, and grateful for Jason who has a couple new tires ordered already!  :)  After all I did yesterday, I felt really grateful that the tire went kaput at the end of the day and not in the middle of all my craziness!  Thankful!

A window on our life this week

I filled out a "parent ad" for Rhiannon's middle school yearbook tonight, where you pay some money and they put a little love note for your child, from you, into the yearbook.  Wade helped me fill it out and Jason gave his approval.  Hopefully it'll be something Rhiannon will enjoy.  Not too many parents do it, but I couldn't resist, especially since Rhiannon has had so much fun in her yearbook class this year!

Explosion of pollen + crazy wind the last two days = no fun for allergy sufferers.  Wade's doing okay, Rhiannon seems fine, I'm downing essential oils and Zyrtec daily to take the edge off, and Jason been under the weather with it.  You don't see the pollen until someone washes down their sidewalk, and then you can't help but notice the green stuff they're washing off.  Not fun.  On the plus side, the weather is beautiful and spring is almost here!

We drew a square on our chimney out back with chalk for a basketball hoop and the kids have had fun playing some b-ball out on the patio.  Every day.  Wade wanted to go out at 7:30 am on Sunday and do it, and I had to explain to him that it was daylight savings and people would NOT appreciate the steady beat of a basketball at that time of day!

Last night we had our new sister missionaries over for dinner--Sister Green and Sister Waite.  They are lovely and brought a nice energy and spirit into our home!  I made some oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookies for dessert and was reminded why I don't make cookies often.  They get devoured in less than 24 hours, ha-ha, and I certainly help with that!

Last Friday night Rhiannon and I picked up her friend Emily and had a spur-of-the-moment Girls Night.  We went to the high school's Mr. BHS pageant.  It was a total blast, and I had a good time remembering when Rhiannon participated as a little escort a couple of times.  A young man from our ward, Kyle Robins, won the contest fair and square--he did an amazing job!

10 weeks of school left.  YEE-HAW!

Grandpa and Grandma Sheen come for a visit on March 22.  DOUBLE Yee-haw! :)

Thankful for rain!

When we first moved to Ridgecrest back in 1999, I wasn't too impressed by the smells after a rain here.  It was a super-strong scent that didn't smell clean to me.  Maybe it was the part of town we were living at that time, I don't know, but it was stinky!

Fast forward to this weekend and 2 days of glorious, much-needed, prayed-for rain.  I was out walking the dogs this morning and fell in love with that crisp, ridiculously clean smell of a dusty desert town that's had a bath.  Everything looked cleaner, too.  California still needs a lot of rain, but I'm very thankful for the little bit we got this weekend!

Other happy news:

I just updated my Google calendar for the next 3 months.  School's out on May 29th--yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that's what I call a sunset

Last week Rhiannon and I raced out the front door to capture one of our valley's spectacular sunsets.  They never cease to blow me away with their beauty.  You have to be quick, though, because they don't last long!

Rhiannon took this one with her iPhone!  WOW!

Maybe a minute after her I took a panoramic shot with my phone.  Amazing how the colors went from reds and oranges to purples and pinks.  Stunning!

I've been feeling a little homesick for Texas lately, so these sunsets sure helped to remind me that I've got it good here in the middle of nowhere, too. :)