TEXAS - how I love you!

As Arielle said, "TX missed the notice about winter." What a beautiful day - 67 degrees out when we began our walk.....warm once again. I love TX. 


We had no rental car until late this afternoon. I thought we would be near restaurants....but really we aren't near much out here....

Hotel big building on the right

I next thought we'd swim and sit in the hot tub....but they are closed for the season......oy vey.....so I took a closer look at our surroundings.....

See the Olive Garden sign? At 1:00 p.m. with no hope of a car until after 3:30 p.m. the restaurant was looking closer.....Just across the road....only problem is the photo doesn't show there's a drainage ditch, 6 - 8 lanes of freeway and no cross walks..... 


We walked behind the hotel, along a back street and way up from this spot....found a cross walk that only took you 1/2 way across - wonder why???? but then had to walk through the brush on the other side back to Olive Garden. I'd say it was a good mile all together (there and back). The weather was BEAUTIFUL and Stacia and I had flip flops....thus I taught her about fire ants, cockleburs and mesquite thorns. Yowzer! 

Car lot we walked by....Stacia likes the shiny sheep of TX

I got our new little speedster...Funny thing there. I turned on the GPS and it was all in JAPANESE. I took it back and said, "I may be crazy but all I see when I turn this on in Japanese and I can't quite figure it out." They laughed. They said they thought I'd learned the language. Turns out the people who rented this car last were Japanese.  On the road again with an English GPS....and I think we'll hit the road tomorrow visiting friends, shopping, whatever while the boys are in school. 


Nice relaxing day.....long walk, beautiful weather, new rental car, settled in the hotel....dinner tonight with the boys. 


Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

A Tin of Tea

in your Backpack Wins You LOTS of Attention in American Airports! No one even ASKED on the way here. LOL  "Why, Yes, I DO have a metal cylinder in my backpack!" ::snort::  I checked it through.

Most Dangerous Tea on the Market

I told the kids, "Let's write about yesterday for the blog," and Stacia replied, "It was a cold, long and boring day. And that's the end."  ::snort:: 


We arrived EARLY to check in and were told we had to pay $9 per person to board, $25 per checked bag (not even the first would be free) and $29 per seat. Wow....we are NOT in Japan any longer. Where's the sushi, free slippers and blankets? 


 We talked back and forth. I was gracious - if incredulous. She told me it's been this way for years. I told her I've not flown domestic in several years.  I told her we did NOT want to pay for seats which I thought should obviously be included in the price of the ticket. It turns out all they had left when we bought our ticket were some sort of "upgrade" seat...but that is not MY problem. I did not REQUEST these seats. I booked online and expected to take what they gave me. She finally understood my logic. I also explained there was no reason we needed special boarding, so she removed that charge too. 


Friends are telling me that they waive the fee for baggage if you are active duty or a dependent....but they told me you had to have the active duty member with you and be on orders. I will try again when we leave. LOL 


She warned me the meals on the plane would be for "purchase only".  $10 for a sandwich, $3 for a pack of crackers (you know those snack packs???) and $6 for the snack bag of chips. We ran through a little store on the way to our gate..... No bentos or rice balls in sight...but we did o.k. I told the kids they are American Bentos.  On the plane several men asked for what the kids had (we were all in different spots).  They proudly said, "Mom bought these before we got on." ::snort:: 

I could have sold this meal for a MINT

We did fine in TX - and we'll need the full hour on our return trip to make connections - but we can do it. We RAN through the halls but made it....even had time to snap a photo of this vending machine. Now we're talking....

Jamin showed up at the airport early to pick us up. He decided to sit and study for a final. As we exited - we set off an alarm. Jamin looked up and said, "Yep, the families here." ::snort:: Meanwhile, the man was saying in a stern voice "turn around and step away" so we did...then he shouted "go through the exit"....so we did...then he said, "Turn around and step back from the exit"....so we did....then he said, "I'm talking to the man in the blue coat." ::snort::  I really couldn't figure out how WE set the thing off. LOL  Evidently the man went through, realized he forgot something and wanted to come back through, was told no and did it anyway - right as Zander approached the exit gate. ::grin::

Josiah and Shelby showed up and we came to the hotel, had pizza and slept well.

Note to travelers coming in on the 20th - we DID get here at 9:00 p.m. rather than 9:20 p.m. regardless of what the ticket said. LOL

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Traveling -

Monday we spent with my folks and the girls.....knowing we were heading down the road on Tuesday. I was NOT feeling well on Monday night or Tuesday.

Tuesday was a travel day. We turned in the rental car and found a bus to our hotel. As I was feeling yucky, the plan was to swim and rest in the afternoon and rest well.

Video Machines in America are kept under lock & chains

Fairly good travelers

We were surprised in Portland with an afternoon evening with BreAnne. She was to pick friends up at 10:30 (she thought a.m. but it was p.m.). When we arrived we got a message on FB to call her. SO....we went to LEARNING PALACE, Red Robin, Ross and Ikea.  IKEA - a store so big you need a MAP to find your way out. Wow. Our first experience...glad Bre was with us or we would have never found our way out.

Girls liked the leaves over the beds

I wonder....in IKEA

How many parents have had a Tim Hawkins experience with display toilets? Bre and I also had a good laugh thinking about his IKEA blurb, "We get it - you're Sweedish!" ::grin::

We came back and swam, visited and watched a movie.

It was a HARD night of sleep last night...trains, planes, traffic....all but Stacia have made it through breakfast. Zander is ticked I won't let him have breakfast dessert, of all things. He complains each and every plane trip of nausea and often throws up when we take off and land...he has a better chance of landing on the moon than me letting him stuff himself with donuts before a flight. ::snort::  I'm really looking forward to getting home and having a "real food only" diet for a few weeks. LOL

We leave in an hour or so and will arrive in TX - our destination - in 13 hours.

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Sunday Update

We slept. Woot!  We enjoyed Sunday. 


I booked tickets to TX and tickets to Seattle and talked to the contractors who now handle Space A rather than  AMC. LOL  


We saw Bre at Church. Arielle and Stacia were in "Ms. Bre's" Children's Church.

The church Michael and I were married in

 After church we met up with Krista (who works in a church across town) and Nolan. Gma, Gpa, all of us at their favorite lunch spot....

Pie shakes? Wow. Pie/Shake in a blender who would have thunk?

 Bre went home for a nap after lunch. Krista joined us for a bit at the hotel pool. Gma and Gpa came over too. We swam until Stacia's toes were bleeding - and we discovered something gross in the pool.

This is not us - but we made splashes like this! 

 Krista headed home to host College Age group at their apartment. Bre works tonight until 4 a.m. We all changed clothes, booked tickets, talked on the phone and then headed to my folks. Our mission - find ICE CREAM - it IS Sunday Night...and it's our family tradition. Gma and Gpa agreed to come with us.

The new mini size is PERFECT

 We loved seeing all the Christmas lights on the way home. I do miss Christmas lights living in Northern Japan. I hear rumors that they have Christmas lights in Tokyo...but not really up where we live.

Tonight I have all the kids at the hotel with me. The girls are back to work.....we'll leave on Tuesday or Wednesday to make our way to TX. We fly out of Portland on the 30th. I'm still deciding how much margin we need...do we want to turn the car in on the 29th and spend the night up there...or drive up early that a.m., turn the car in and hop on a plane? We shall see. 


Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Mystery Solved!

Stacia sat straight up in bed at 11:19 a.m. and said, "Did we miss it?"  

Free breakfast from 7:00 - 9:30 a.m. 

Yep - you missed it.... I, however, went to sleep with you at 3 a.m. and woke up when the neighbors went for free breakfast. LOL  I spent the 4 hours of solitude "resting with Jesus"...but I'm tired now. LOL 

We were so late getting out this a.m.  everyone was trying to track us down. I took the two to lunch and then we headed to Gma and Gpa's to watch "the game".  We also got to watch Gma work her holiday magic....

A whole lotta nativities - Stacia is impressed

Yes, the Ducks won! Go ducks.  We visited with my folks for a bit, Bre went to work, Krista and the kids and I ran to Fred Meyers for "supplies" and then home to the hotel.  The kids swam. I did more onsen/hot tub research. I'm starting to gross myself out about hot tubs, really.  Krista, Arielle and Nolan headed to her apartment...

Look what we found in our room -  note from the housekeeper.

I have been perplexed about how CRAZY this hotel has been since Thanksgiving. I am amazed so many families would come to Eugene, spend the night in a hotel and SHOP......but TODAY...we solved the mystery! It's "THE GAME" - the Civil War - UofO and OSU...today...here in Eugene....Our parking lot is full of both Duck and Beaver cars.

Sampling....also yellow pom poms & all manner of Duck accessories

Beavers are serious fans too

One of my favorite Duck fans

I'm VERY HOPEFUL the hotel craziness and noise will calm down a bit tomorrow...I would assume even Ducks and Beavers have to be back to their routines by Monday. 

Supplies.....

Yes, I know it's horrible....Day 5 of jet lag and I'm ready for these younger ones to sleep......I'm hopeful....if Stacia would quit talking, I think she'd fall asleep. It's 10:30 p.m.  I tried for Calm Forte...but they didn't have it.....I medicated in the hopes we can get up in time for breakfast and make it to church tomorrow. Druggies for Jesus.  I'm off to take mine now.  FWIW the Tylenol pm has 2 ingredients. The kids stuff just one - the 2nd ingredient in Tylenol PM - I'm hopeful. 

Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Hidden Treasures/Rest

Deeply enjoying rest.... I don't go to sleep until 3 a.m. (jet lag) but I'm up at 7:30 or 8:00....the older Gherkins are at the girl's and the younger two Gherkins sleep until I wake them.  Lots of uninterrupted time to spend with Jesus, which is the REST I need more than sleep.   I've been thinking about the secret life (ala Sermon on the Mount - Matt 6 - love my Misawa peeps)....it's become a huge tapestry with many threads to connect.  God is granting me TIME, alone for REST, RECOVERY, REFUGE and RENEWAL. 


Quick thought (one of many) this a.m. Col 2:1-3 -  a verse I found as I followed the thread from Matthew on "secrets" and "hidden things".... in Christ Himself are "hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." I wanted to dig a bit as this merged several themes I've been pondering....kingdom treasures, intimacy, secrecy, proper/opportune times....


The following is from Dr. Zodhiates' Complete Dictionary of Word study in Pocket Bible.

"secret/hidden" - Strongs 2927 - Kruptos - hidden, concealed, secret, in secret where one cannot be seen by others (oh this appeals to me as I've been in such a public season of service), to be covered.  


BTW Krupte (2926) secret cell or vault. 

 "God keeps certain things secret from us for a certain time, but this is for our good....One can never know certain truths which are treasures unless one knows Jesus Christ Himself. Our knowledge of what Christ knows comes only as we become intimately related to Him and in the growth of that relationship. The treasures of wisdom are hidden from people as long as they do not know Christ Himself. "

I want to KNOW Him, alone - intimately. HE is my treasure. So often we scramble around looking for treasures which are simply hidden until we KNOW Christ. We know Christ as we spend time with Him in the "inner room/vault" - in secret - He is THERE - waiting (matt 6:4, 6, 18).


In the midst of a public season, taking time to be hidden with Christ in the secret place is my lifeline, the solace and rest I crave. This is the  "cave" Abba Father lovingly grants  in this public season where I'm not allowed to "go anonymous".  I can be hidden/anonymous every time I enter the "secret place" with Him. 


Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

NESCO Simplicity (Michael)

Dinner has become the daily challenge.  Usually by the end of the day, Jared and I are just ready to eat "something."  Today, though, we had more than just "something."  The turkey that had been thawing in the refrigerator was too thawed to go back into the freezer.  So, another plan was hatched.  A quick check of the NESCO site, and we had a recipe for cooking the turkey.  Yeah, it is after Thanksgiving, but we had turkey at the Dining Facility on base for Thanksgiving.  Yesterday was too busy with airplane tickets and stuff, but today, well, that was very different.  Using the NESCO roaster was actually an easy way to cook a turkey, and it even got done a bit early (yup, 190 degrees inside).  Sufficiently satisfied!

Living large, loving life and choosing joy!!! 
Michael


Choosing Joy!
©2011 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...