Happy Birthday, Zach!

Happy Birthday to my "little" brother... 29 years ago, my life became a lot less quiet, and a LOT more interesting! I'm glad I got to share growing up with you! Love you!

Just wondering...

We've all had songs stuck in our heads. Over the weekend and well into this week, the song in my head has been "I L.O.V.E. my C.U.B.E. Nissan" ... no, I'm serious. It's a Canadian thing - and no, I'm not claiming to be a Canadian, but I have a good friend who is, and she sent me a youtube link to the song... and.... well.... it's catchy. (Just go to youtube and search C.U.B.E. Nissan)

Anyway, the point here is that early last week, I found myself extremely grieved/heavy-hearted over some things going on with people close to me. In the midst of it all, this period of time when I couldn't think or pray coherently, when it felt like all I could do was cry, I realized that there was an old hymn stuck in my head. It was there without my realizing it - I was singing it almost before I remembered it.

The hymn? "I Must Tell Jesus!"

Verse 1:
I must tell Jesus all of my trials,
I cannot bear these burdens alone;
In my distress He kindly will help me,
He ever loves and cares for His own.

Refrain:
I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
I cannot bear my burdens alone;
I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.

Here's my favorite part: I have not sung, not discussed, not thought about this song in years - and by years, I mean at least fifteen years. And yet in a heartbeat, I remembered it perfectly!
Coincidence? Perhaps. Or maybe you'll agree with me, that it was the timely reminder of a faithful God that He's big enough to handle everything weighing me down, and that I didn't need to try deal with it on my own!

This experience then led me to start thinking about that idea of running to Jesus, casting our burdens on Him... but then I started to wonder, in this self-help era, have we forgotten how to do that? There are "Dummies" books for nearly anything you might want to do/learn/accomplish (within reason, of course). We've worked so hard to equip ourselves to be healthy, functional human beings, but I'm afraid that in doing so, we've lost sight of the reality that the Wholeness we're seeking is found in the only One who is truly whole!

You Know... When

* You know a family Wii tournament has gone on too long when you have to pass around the Ben-Gay.

* You know it's been too long since you cleaned out your fridge when it seems more like cleaning up after science class experiments gone wrong.

* You know it's truly a girl movie when there's a joke about laughing so hard it makes you pee.

Virginia City, Baby!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so I'm a dork. I love Bonanza... yes, the corny western that ran a bazillion years ago and is today remembered mostly by dudes old enough to be my grandfather. This weird obsession started several years ago, and I've come to terms with it.

This is the Bonanza title screen... thanks, wiki!


SO... last weekend when we were in the Reno area for a friend's wedding, we took advantage of the opportunity to go visit Viriginia City... the town nearest the fictional Ponderosa Ranch, home of the fictional Cartwrights in Bonanza. Okay, well, to be truthful, I took advantage of the opportunity and my highly-entertained hubby humored me.

All of this to say, here are pictures of our visit to Virginia City!

I didn't know this...

It was super-cold for this little Californian (it was in the upper 40s)...

but I was in Virginia City!!!

Kitschy, but I appreciate the sentiment. :)

Eating a carmel apple at Red's - this was highly recommended by my friend the bride, and rightly so.

The Ponderosa Saloon - more homage to Bonanza.

This was the old schoolhouse - has been updated and now serves as a museum. Obviously, this was through the car windows.

St. Paul's (Episcopal, I think)

The Chapin House has an interesting history... built in 1862, was untouched by the big-gigocious 1875 fire, thus allowing it to be used for triage for victims of said fire. It went on to serve as a boarding house... and now it can be yours! (BTW, the cars in the pic are *shockingly* not part of the real estate offer :) ...they're parked on the street right in front of the house.)

I'm not sure which building this was, but I was struck by the juxtaposition of the new bottles in the street-level (top) window and the old bottles in the bottom window...

And so concludes this edition of my travel updates. :)

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Would someone please tell me:

1. WHERE ALL THIS GRAY HAIR IS COMING FROM?!?!?!?!?!?
*sigh*

2. Whether I'm the only one who thinks the current Quizno's commercials (with the talking oven) are just wrong? Torpedo sandwiches... now, I'm no advertising genius, but I'm pretty sure that what they're getting at .... um, is NOT torpedoes.
Puh-lease.

3. Why people in Ventura have so much trouble reading speed-limit signs? (I promise you, it really is okay if you go 55 when that's the posted limit!!!)

4. For that matter, why do people in Ventura have so much trouble driving in parking lots? I'm pretty sure the standard driving rules still apply. Well, except for the Poinsettia Plaza parking lot - I am firmly convinced that whoever designed that was an evil genius.

DC wrap-up

I know this is late in coming... but coming home from DC, life was off and running again.

First of all, two more restaurants to add to my DC culinary reviews: Harry's Pub (which was actually in our hotel), where they make a fabulous black-and-tan, and Cafe Paradiso, where they make the best Italian food in the whole world. Ever. Seriously.

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Cherry Blossoms! (We missed most of them, but these few hung around for us.)

The Smithsonian Castle

The garden behind the Castle (I know it has an official name, but I've lost it).

Tulips - this particular group is between the Smithsonian Castle and the Arts & Industries Building (the A & I is the building in the background).

This portrait of Stephen Colbert is in the Museum of American History

... displayed on the wall directly across from the bathrooms!