Wise Words

Maybe it will surprise some of you that I am a fourth generation and 35 year member of the Grange. Yesterday, while reading my California State Grange Newsletter, I came across these words written by Barbara Geiger, who is the California State Grange Chaplain:

"There comes a time in your life when you walk away from all the drama and people who creative it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh, forget the bad, and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don't. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is part of life, getting back up is living."

Wise words!!

Ethan's New Girlfriend

Got an e-mail from Ethan this morning with a picture of his new girlfriend girlfriend's new look! :0)

First Day of Autumn

REALLY? SERIOUSLY? It's the first day of Autumn! Someone needs to buy Mother Nature a calendar that says, "Autumn Begins" on the little September 23rd square. Kim, you are excused (if you want) from commenting on this blog post because I know you LOVE the hot weather!! :0)

In spite of the weather, I am going to change my blog background to something fun for fall!

Rock Around The Clock

When I was looking for something on my computer the other day, I found this video of Romona Black and I dancing along to the 50's music on my juke box! Thought you might enjoy a "laugh for today".

I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas...

I’m dreaming of a White Christmas…already!! Each fall, Redding Christian School has an All-School Musical at the Cascade Theater in Redding. RCS students 3rd – 12th grade can audition for the musical. This year, they are doing White Christmas, a musical based on the 1954 film. There are 50+ kids in the production. The dates are October 28th at 7:00 p.m. and October 29th at 11:00 a.m. They will also be doing a matinee on Friday morning for area schools.

Lyle is playing the part of Phil (Danny Kaye in the movie). He is very excited to have a lead role. He has many, many lines to memorize and songs and intense dances to learn. Lyle and several of the other cast members are even learning to tap dance. Practices are four days a week for three hours a day, but Lyle is loving every minute of it!! Here’s a picture taken at practice the other day:

This will be Lyle’s last RCS All-School Musical. :0( They started doing these musicals in 2005 (when Lyle was in sixth grade), and he has performed in all of them:

• Schoolhouse Rock Live!
• Anne of Green Gables
• Alice in Wonderland
• Music Man
• Beauty and the Beast
• Oliver

If you live in the Redding area, please try to come. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

A Night on the Town

Last night, Blaine and Colleen Hudson (our boss and his wife) took us out for a night on the town!! The Hudsons took us to dinner at Outback and then to a concert at the Cascade Theater. It was Randy Linder - A Tribute to Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was awesome, and we enjoyed ourselves sooo much.

I commented on the "older" crowd, and Bob reminded me that Proud Mary came out in 1969 (42 years ago). My favorites - Proud Mary, Midnight Special, Heard It Through the Grapevine, Looking Out My Back Door, Up Around The Bend, On The Corner, and Susie Q.

Randy Linder even had the same hairstyle as John Fogerty:


photos courtsey of www.randylinder.com

Wrong Worship

OUCH!! A little convicting (especially "I Surrender Some")!!

Keep Her!

After we had moved Hilary’s belongings into the dorm, organized some things, had lunch and toured the campus, we made a trip into Eureka to pick up some last-minute things at Target. Then we took Ethan and Hilary to dinner. That’s when it began to hit me…I am actually leaving my daughter 3.5 hours from home. This isn’t a sleepover…I am leaving her at college. I was very quiet at dinner simply because I didn’t trust myself to talk without crying. When we dropped them back off at the school, I must admit I shed a few tears. I quickly volunteered to drive for awhile (you know you can’t cry very hard and see to drive at the same time) . As we were leaving the campus, we drove past her dorm building. I looked up at the window and thought to myself, “She’s in there…embarking on her future.” Thoughts swirled around and around in my head as I drove.

Our children come to us for such a short time. Eighteen years. Maybe twenty-one. Sometimes they become “boomerang children” and come back to live with us again for awhile. But they’re not meant to stay. They are always leaving.

I must admit that it’s not easy to let them go. You can read the books or attend the classes, but it doesn’t make it any easier. From the very first moment I met my daughter in that delivery room 21 years ago, I have wanted to keep her safe. Keep her warm. Keep her happy. Keep her healthy. Keep her! It is hard to accept the fact that I don’t get to keep her!

She’s not mine, though. Hilary was created by God to change the world. That is the sweet and beautiful truth. He has plans for her. He calls her by name. He has engraved her name on the palms of His hands. He knows the number of hairs on her head. He treasures Hilary. He loves her. He keeps her.

And because I know He keeps her, I can let her go.

Humboldt State University - Part III (The Campus)

So, blog readers, want to go on a little tour of Humboldt State University campus? HSU stands for Humboldt State University and also stands for hills, stairs, and umbrellas. They told us that Humboldt has more stairs on their campus than students -- 15,000 stairs (and only 7,500 students). :0) Anywhere you go on the campus, it is either uphill or downhill. After walking uphill, we encountered these stairs. I was EXHAUSTED after our tour!! You should be glad you are going on this "blog tour" instead.

This is the Student Center/Cafeteria, known as the jolly giants common or the "J" for short. The Cafeteria is 1/2 mile one way from Hilary's dorm. I, personally, would build up quite an appetite just walking to the "J".

When you drive up to HSU, it doesn't look like the typical college campus. My first question was, "Where are all the classrooms?" Well, they are nestled and hidden in the trees:

Here's the Library:

How would you like to have an 8:00 a.m. class in this building? The stairs going up to this building are something. (This building was built in 1921.)

This is the Campus Bookstore and courtyard area. Last Wednesday they had a Club Fair in the courtyard area. You could go and check out all the campus clubs.

They have beautiful walking trails at one end of the campus. Nice trails and benches along the way.

Okay, for the sports' fans, here's a picture of the arena where the HSU basketball games are played:

The football field (go HSU Lumberjacks!!)...

The indoor pool...

They have a Student Recreation Center that the students can use for free anytime they want. There was 3 rooms filled with all kinds of machines.

They even have this rock climbing wall...

Well, thank you for joining me on this tour. It is a beautiful campus!

Humboldt State University - Part II (The Dorms)

WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD!!

In the center of this picture is the gate where you enter the courtyard of Hilary's dorm building. She must use her card AND a password to enter the gate.

This is the Marketplace for her dorm building. You can go through the store and come to another gate to get into her courtyard.

The Marketplace is beautiful inside and huge. I only took pictures of parts of it. The kids can use their "J' points (their meal card) to buy things in the store.

In addition to being a grocery store, it has a deli area where you can buy slices of pizza, chicken, etc. It also has 2 different kinds of soup, a beautiful fruit bar with three kinds of yogurt and on the other side of the fruit bar (below) is a great salad bar.

They also have a coffee shop and sell pastries.

Upstairs, above the Marketplace, is the Great Hall for her dorm building. It is a beautiful room with a fireplace. The next night after she moved in they were going to have a movie night in this room. They also have other activities in here just for the people in her dorm.

Hilary lives in what they call a suite (much like an apartment). There are six people in her suite. Tim and Hilary both have a single room. Nate and Everett and Katie and Briel each share a double room. When you walk in the door, you are in the common area. The dining room...

The living room...

and the kitchen...

Hilary and Tim's rooms and their bathroom is off the kitchen. The two double rooms and the other bathroom is down the hall from the dining room. Here's looking from the kitchen down into Hilary's room.

Each dorm building has a nice courtyard area with benches, trees, and bike racks. It is really nice.

Here's a couple of pictures of Hilary's room:

We only met three of Hilary's roommates, but they were soooo nice. Offered to help us carry things up and then invited us to go into Arcata with them for lunch. We went to one of the HSU kids' favorite hang outs:

Check back for HSU - Part III (The Campus)

Humboldt State University -- Part I (mostly in pictures)

The weekend before Hilary left for college, we had an August birthday/family get-together with the Haley Family. My cousin, Bernadean, fixed this fun "college basket" for Hilary. It had popcorn, Top Ramen, cookies and (a necessity if you are going to Humboldt State University)...HIPPIE CHIPS!! :0)

Hilary's cousin, Ashley, gave her "the most important items needed" when you are moving away from home for the first time...a package of toilet paper and a plunger:

The night before Hilary left, she chose to go to one of her most favorite places to eat:

The guys in there were sad to see her leave for college since she has been such a loyal customer. But, no worries, there's always Thanksgiving and Christmas break.

A goodbye picture with Lyle because he was not going with us...

We got up at 4:00 a.m. to pack the van. Yes, we had to rent a van because we could not get everything in our car.

A quick picture in front of the house before we got on the road at 6:00 a.m. We stopped in Weaverville for breakfast and continue on to Arcata.

We had mostly everything packed in boxes, and we were sooooo glad we did. Then my very, very smart husband thought about bringing his hand truck/dolly!! It was a ways from the unloading area to the dorm room.

Since this post is so long and I have so many pictures, I thought I would break it up into several posts. Check back for HSU - Part II.

Class of 2012

Yes, on August 18th (I know I'm ALWAYS behind on my blog!) Lyle started his senior year at Redding Christian High School. WOW! I can't believe my "baby" is a senior. Friday he brought home an order form for graduation announcements and class rings. This year is just going to fly by!!!

Dear Lyle:

Three years ago you entered high school as a freshman. Low man on the totem pole! You were striving to do well, find your identity, meet new people. It was great to finally be in high school.

Two years ago you were a sophomore…no longer the lowly freshman. It was time to start talking about college, thinking it was still so far away.

One year ago you became an upper classman and began to realize that time really does fly. You got your license, realized who your true friends were, and cherished the times you spent with them.

Now you enter this school year as a senior. You get to go “off campus” for lunch and leave school early every day. Everything you do will be your last…your last All-School Musical, your last homecoming, etc. You get to start applying to college, far and near.

There will be times this year when you will be excited about starting over, sad about what you will leave behind, and anxious to move on. Slow down and take the time to appreciate every moment of your senior year - you only get to do it once! Take every opportunity you get to do anything that you have ever wanted to do. Spend as much time with friends as possible. Someone once said, “High school friends held us strong when things were shaky, in good times and bad, in laughter and tears, through boyfriends/girlfriends, bad grades, family problems…our friends showed us that life was worth enjoying.” And last, but certainly not least, make your life count for Jesus!

Here’s to you, Lyle, and the Class of 2012!

Love,
Mom