hot pools.

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Hi everyone. Its been a fun week filled with good things. Happy Mothers Day to all my moms out there as well.

So Tuesday was sewing at Winton. Mom Yolanda was working in the kitchen so I went and helped her. Awhile back id made crockpot chicken tacos and had forgot about them but we had them for lunch at sewing and they were tops! Recipe here🙌 so easy. http://pinterest.com/pin/557461260117489881/?source_app=android

Wednesday was good. I went through some stuff at home for garage sale items. Worked outside abit. The garden is rocking this 85 degree weather. It cools off to 55ish at night so perfect weather. Also we had teriyaki chicken with garlic quinoa for supper so our first quinoa try was a success. Thanks for all your ideas everyone!

Thursday. Hmm. I worked on laminating school stuff like my calendar and numbers. Mom sent me two boxes of our decorations for my future classroom theme so I went through all the things and got super enthused. Its handy having taught several years and having to not buy a lot of stuff. In the evening we took our garage sale items to folks (they had a garage sale saturday) and I priced things while Morgan and Ja worked on the vanagon and bought some groceries. Then we headed home and packed a backpack.

Friday morning we left at 8. Ja, Morgan and I in the van with our ice chest, swim gear, and definitely not enough warm clothes. We drove away east for awhile. I was cozy with my blanket and moccasins and The Long Winter which is quite a good book I’m reading. The mountains were beauty and the van made it to the top of Sonora Pass surprisingly. (elev. 9600) we had lunch in bridgeport at an odd cafe with local folks. Drove off into the mountain foothills after lunch and found Bodie which is a 100ish building ghost town.

Read about it here👉 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodie,_California. If you look this up you can also see a little map of where we were located in California. We walked around the town for awhile. It was eerie and cold and blowy and was so odd to think of this place once being the 3rd largest city in Cali. The town is preserved completely how it was left and there are signs of everyday life in the houses. It was really cool. Left there and drove to Mammoth Lakes to a thrift store because we were all freezing and it was cold and snowy. The guys bought jackets and we got some toques. Then drove out to Wild Willies Hot Springs where we camped. Its high desert with scrubby low plants and yucca and surrounded by mountains which I didn’t see when we arrived because of the driving snow.haha. David & Paul & Justin & Shenda met us there and we managed to set up camp a bit and get sausage and potatoes frying for supper.

After supper in the dark in swim stuff in snow we walked 1/2 mile to the hot springs which are just random holes steaming in the ground. Its a geothermal area with minerals staining the ground and coloring some of the grasses. We sat in the hot pots and watched falling stars. Perfect. Morgan, Ja and I slept on our bed in the vanagon. It was cold but we managed fine.

Saturday we had breaky over the fire and the guys went to the springs again. My suit was frozen so I laid in the sun by the van and thawed our items. We left and drove to Bishop and had lunch before heading out of town to a place where the guys did some bouldering and rock climbing. Went back to our site and cooked steaks over the fire..the clouds were low over the mountains and it started misting a bit. After supper we drove a couple miles farther out in the middle of the desert to another spring that was unfortunately full of people so we saw another steaming pot farther away and walked to that. I feel it wasnt necessarily set up for human habitation like the others were. It was more of a deep swamp that bubbled and the water was murky but warm. When we stepped in we sank to our knees in loam/mud/clay or something. And we hunkered over the vents in the mist in this swamp of weeds and bushes and it was so fun. Got back to the van smelling of hard boiled eggs and full of odd silty sand. Headed home away over the pass with poor visibility and bad roads full of snow but got home at 2 and slept in a warm bed. Yay.

Sunday I missed my mom and grandmas. Went to uncle evans for lunch with the koehn side. C.E. service in the evening and our friends perrin&nikki after church.

Today I tried to wash our camping things which took awhile. Went for groceries and to the bank. Worked on some watercolor prints for awhile and watered gardens of course! We met some of Morgan’s pals for supper and the guys played basketball later. Spending some time with my amazing husband and my best brother in law in the mountains and high desert over the weekend improved my mental health I think. I loved it. Cheers to a good week for each of you.❤

cruzin.

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Funny thing. Last week after I posted, Morgan and dad had to be away in L.A. for several days. So right after I posted that afternoon I quick packed 2 blankets and a pillow, stuff for chicken salad sandwiches in a cooler, and my swimsuit and drove the 2 hour drive to Capitola, which is right beside Santa Cruz. I parked on the public beach and slept with my windows cracked so I could hear the ocean 20 feet away. It was glorious. Tuesday morning I found this place called The Buttery that has delightful scones and quiche so I sat in front of the fireplace munching and reading on my kindle. Then I spent some time walking through shops in Capitola before driving through Santa Cruz. I spent awhile watching whales spouting from several places in town and then drove North on the 1 along the coast to a little beach that I had all to myself. Got home before supper and got stuff back in order.

My cousin arianna was here for a few days so thursday I met them at school for hot lunch. In the afternoon Ari and I went to merced and got drinks at Coffee Bandits. In the evening Morgan and I went to plan CE at Matt&Camis hoose.

Friday afternoon the Winton fire department that Morgan works on gave a presentation at school for the children. They had a fire truck and ambulance there, and got to watch the Riggs Air helicopter land. Then they divided into groups and all took turns going through each vehicle. Morgan put on his full outfit so they could see what itd look like if someone was coming to get them in a burning building At the end of the afternoon they watched the helicopter take off and then they all stood on the football field while the guys sprayed them with water from the truck. The kids absolutely loved it! Ari and I went swimming for awhile after that which was so beautiful.

Saturday we worked outside and relaxed. Got stuff and had 10 people for a cinco de mayo taco supper outside. Fun times per usual. Sunday we listened in to our cousin Jackie and Davons wedding..folks for lunch. The youth rally was this weekend at Ballico so church was slim Sunday eve.

This morning we went to a funeral at Ballico of our friends grandma. Morgan worked this afternoon and I got supper around. I tried this recipe for tomato spinach shrimp & other stuff pasta http://pinterest.com/pin/289215607310739358/?source_app=android and it turned out really good. Served it with a tomato and cucumber mix in vinegar&oil. What are some quick healthy meals for your family? I got my little deals done to move around the job chart for next school year so that’s one thing accomplished!🎉

Cheers to another week friends🙌 c.b.

normal.

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Tuesday morning we went over and made breakfast for Jalen. I don’t know why. But folks were busy maybe and Morgan and Ja worked on Ja’s house so we just had breaky together before they got started. Morgan had fire meeting in the evening so I was at folks for supper.

I went to Modesto Wednesday to do some school shopping. I found a couple of vintage stores and a little teacher store and it was nice. Then i buzzed home and made my Mom’s BBQ chicken which is quick and easy. Also i bought some quinoa that i’m excited about trying because i haven’t really used it ever. If you have some good recipes you have used with quinoa then let me know!

Friday afternoon we went to folks and helped load catfish and frying stuff to take over to Grace Home. Grace Home Gift Day was this weekend and the main event deal was Friday evening. Folks were in charge of frying the catfish for supper so we helped them do that in the evening. Then there was an auction sale and a silent bake sale auction. Interesting evening since I don’t really know Livingston people. We decided to put our names down to host a bbq rib meal ticket supper so we’ll be doing that in June sometime!

Sunday at noon was our fifth Sunday lunch potluck. In the evening there was a service at Livingston where the Conference Care Committee gave several talks. I came home and wrote an essay because i was so inspired afterwards.

Morgan left and is gone with Dad to L.A. to work until Wednesday sometime so I’ve been filling my time with random stuff. My garden is doing so good. Except for the dumb cucumbers which i got mad at and uprooted because they weren’t growing. I’m gonna try to get some more and replant so that will hopefully solve the problem. The tomatoes are about a foot and a half high and the potatoes are doing good too. We are past the rain stage i think so I’ve been watering my garden and the plants around the house every day. We are soon going to be moving our chickens to our house. Morgan has been working on the chicken coop so it’s almost ready! Yay! Unfortunately while I was in Oregon I came across this darling little black wire pail for collecting eggs and I bought it immediately. Talk about counting your chicks before they hatch.

Another thing. A few days ago i froze yogurt in an ice cube tray and then used them to put little smoothie bags together. If you like smoothies this is the way to go. You can prep all at once and just grab a bag, add liquid, and blend. They are so handy! In each sandwich ziploc bag i put 2 cups spinach, 1 1/4 cup mixed fruit, and 2 frozen yogurt cubes. For the fruit I mostly used blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, mango and banana. Freeze the bags and when you’re ready for a smoothie, add 1 cup of coconut water, almond milk, water, or regular milk. I use almond milk!

So have a safe and happy week my friends. love, chey

Oregon.

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I cant even remember what I did at the beginning of the week. Laundry probably. Tuesday I cleaned and organized and washed floors and watered the gardens becauseeee…I found out that Morgan and Dad Kevin had to go to LA for a job for several days.

So Wednesday morning at 5 when Morgan and Dad left I left too and drove to Oregon to visit Uncle Marshalls. I stopped at the infamous Donner pass where the Donner immigrant party had to resort to cannibalism. It was a beautiful drive except from Winnemuca Nevada on. That was the worst road I’ve ever been on. Nothing for miles and miles. Not even scenery. I got to Uncle Marshalls in time for supper Wednesday evening.

So the rest of the week passed fast! We shopped vintage stores and spent a day in Boise and had good talks and familied and it was so good to be with comfortable people and relax. I went and looked at the school rooms of course…uncle M’s drove me around..we stopped at their church they’ve bought which is old and brick and had tons of cool little rooms. The countryside is so pretty there too. Its just starting to get green and the river is really full. Morgan didn’t get home til later Saturday so I was glad I had a couple days to spend there at Vale.

I left for Winton this morning. I took a different route home that took me by Mount Shasta and through more mountains and pine trees and my heart was so so happy. I came home to a vacuumed cleaned house which is so sweet and now I’m home in my little house with my best person.❤ I am going to start slowly working on name tags and school stuff for September and hopefully work in the yard this week too. Also I think my little chickies that aren’t very cute anymore come to their house soon!

Today my dear Grandpa Bob has been gone 1 year. 1 year anniversaries are tough. I didnt think my family would make it through the 1 year anniversary of Dad being gone. And now grandpa. I miss his gestures and laugh and how he squinted up his eyes when he laughed. He liked trains and teaching school and he adored each of us and dad and mom. It was so hard on him and hard to process when he heard dad had died. Grandpa just felt so bad. So tomorrow call your grandpa&grandma or hug them if you can. And your families. Love each second. Love to each of you…

Blues.

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This week has been so long. I am missing my mom and family so much. I’m never going to like living away from them. I’ve even been cranky since Mom left. Imagine that. The days have dragged by and I feel very unsociable. Is this normal?

My garden is absolutely killing it. Everything is growing really well except the cucumbers. I went and bought another one in case the original 3 didn’t work and its growing really well but the first three are very dinky. I’m considering pulling them out and planting new ones.

Monday we dropped mom off at the Sacramento airport at 4 am or so. Then we slept a bit and eventually drove to San Francisco to spend the day there. We got breakfast on the Embarcadero and looked through some really hip little shops. After that we drove across to Sausalito and found a four mile coastal hike so we did that and it was so so fun. Green hills and flowers and mucky paths from the rain and a little beach with amazing waves and low tide so we could run between waves into the next little inlet. We had lunch in Sausalito at Napa Valley Burger Co. and it is MUST! Go there! Anyways we kept busy and I was glad so I couldn’t think about my mom being gone from me.

Last night we stopped at our neighbors. What a story. Morgan and Ja went on a code blue call the other night 1/2 a mile from our place. The 25 year old son of these people had overdosed on heroin and after the medics brought him back he was taken to a hospital obviously. The guys found out he’d only been home 2 days from prison for doing heroin before. So needless to say his mother was distraught and we have really been thinking about them so we went there last night. I brought pumpkin muffins (page 236 in the Blosser cookbook. So good.) They immediately invited us in, they were both teary eyed, and they remembered Morgan from him being there for their son. Introductions were made and they are a couple in their late 50s with a beautiful married daughter who’s a probation officer in Yuba City. They talked to their son right before we arrived and he is now in a rehab place down by LA. Such a nice couple and she has had her share of health troubles. They gave us two bottles of red wine when we left since he works at a wine company here in the Valley. Its easy to forget there are searching people out there when we get so caught up in our social Mennonite lives!

Another crazy piece of news is that I get to teach Grade 5 here at Grace Mennonite School next year! Its Ballico and Winton combined and I am super excited to be back in the classroom! I will be teaching with experienced and sparky co teachers so that’s a bonus❤

A happy week to each. And thanks for the whatsapps and comments with advice and insight! Xo

Rains.

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I’m pleased. My mom has been visiting Morgan&I since last Sunday. She is the strongest, most creative, and most beautiful woman I know. She has a warrior heart, full of lost love and scars but full of pride too of her children and her life she’s made. She is my best friend and I miss her so much when she’s gone.

We had a fun week. We got lots of rain so my potatoes are up and my cucumbers are still hanging in there. No onions showing yet either. I guess I should google how long it usually takes them to sprout. I got some weeding done but not a lot else outside since mom and I were out running around.

On Wednesday Morgan had off so the three of us drove to Sequoia National Park which is a couple hours from here. The hills were green and full of purple lupines and yellow fiddlenecks. The dogwoods were in full bloom scattered throughout the pines and along the river. Between the hills snow covered mountains peaked through. We grabbed deli sandwiches and sat on a stone wall overlooking all these things. I would have been jealous if I had driven by and saw us sitting there barefoot with a darling view. We hiked a little ways down to “General Sherman” which happens to be the worlds largest tree. It was absolutely astounding. People standing next to it are so small. Its hard to get the right perspective on something that huge. Read interesting things about it here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Sherman_(tree) So it was super interesting and a beautiful outing with a quick fabric stop in Fresno on the way home.

Another night we made our famous Rockin K ribs, which of course brought back those sad but good memories of my dad babying those ribs on the grill when we lived at copeland. We’d have a houseful of dear friends over and what good memories we made and still think of. So we made them for new friends here and it was good to eat those baby back ribs again.

We also got out teacher preparatory class books figured out and ready. If youre a new teacher and heading to teachers prep, come see us in Pennsylvania the end of July🙌

My thoughts have been with the families of the Humboldt Broncos boys killed in Saskatchewan. Its something we all forget..but we have no promise of tomorrow. And may we each be thankful for our families and friends safe around us. Loving you all from cali❤

Easter in my Eyes.

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I’m hoping to start writing every other day or every couple days at least. I like the input and messages you’ve sent in reply to my questions and thoughts. We’ve had some more beauty days here in California. Our grass was so long since it rained while we were in Europe that we had Jon&Alicia come over and we had a yard day. Also no yard day is complete without pizza so we finished with that.

Nothing in my garden is new. I think something is slowly eating one of the cucumber plants but I cant find anything. What should I look for?? I expect instant results so I’ve spent a lot of time looking out my kitchen window and wandering the rows looking for any signs of green. Its really quite frustrating. I dug up an onion at the end of the row just to see if being underground for a week had done anything and it hadn’t.

I repotted my succulents and shenda gave me some cuttings off of her plants so I planted those today too. Its been 80* and sunny the last couple days so I’m hoping things start sprouting soon. Our orange trees are finishing up which is sad because I adore fresh orange juice for breakfast. Some good news is that working outside is starting to tan Birkenstock lines on my feet which is nice to see.

As its Easter season the Crucifixion story had been on my mind. Last night’s Good Friday service was incredible and has given me a lot of thoughts for the next weeks.

One that has stuck with me is the thought that each of us is Barabas. I am the guilty, the condemned, the sinner who deserves to die. And then in an unexpected turn of events, Jesus, beaten, mocked, and tormented, the Saviour of the world, has taken my place to die and I go free. I with my fears and trials and sins of earth go free while Jesus is left alone to the angry crowd to take my place. I am in awe as I am led to freedom, and as I turn back to see the Man hung upon the Cross meant to be mine. I go to the Hill where Jesus hangs on the Cross. I see Him take his last earthly breaths and darkness falls over the earth. Earthquakes send people fleeing, while some stand and marvel at the scene before them. I fall on my knees and weep. How can I not repent and accept the blood Jesus spilled just for me? I am Barabas. A sinner condemned, but a sinner freed by the blood of Jesus.

And then I picture the angels in Heaven. They know what is happening. With arms open and ready some of the angels hover near Jesus as He struggles to carry his Cross up the road. Their wings droop as they listen to the crowds screaming to crucify Him. The atmosphere is hushed with despair and sadness and the angels crowd neared the throne of God. And then as Jesus is crucified there are wails throughout Heaven. It cannot be! God’s only Son crucified for the sins of mankind!

I can only picture what my human mind allows but I guess this is where my thoughts have been. And it is impossible to fathom that I was pardoned by Jesus’ blood. Wishing you each a wonderful Easter.

Its Spring🎉

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Well we’re settled back into our house and its lovely. I’ve been doing laundry and then I got inspired to spring clean so now I’ve started the job of going through our 2 closets we have. I know you may think this odd after only 6 months of marriage but we have accumulated actually. Also I have tons of sweaters etc that I’m done with so away they go.

So I have started making lists again which is one of my favorite things to do. Its very rewarding to cross little things off and deceive myself that I am almost done with all my work.

Yesterday M couldn’t work cuz it was off and on rain so at one of the off times we planted our garden. Which was so fun and I have no idea what I’m doing. I feel like California growing is much different than Michigan. I planted potatoes, green&red peppers, jalapenos, onion, cucumbers, zucchini, and tomatoes. We didn’t do a big garden really, just a good first year starter patch. We got our plants at Lowes because they had good options.

Then we worked on the chicken coop. Our little shed has a fenced area off the side already so we are going to put chickens there. The shed has 2 doors and one goes into this fenced area so I’m hoping to let the chickens into the shed overnight. We will put nesting boxes inside and put chicken wire up to fence off a little section in the shed so it should work pretty well. Mom in law is going to raise chickens as well so she is starting our chicks for us since they have a heater and all that already. I also know nothing about chickens. I remember fighting to gather eggs and getting pecked by Mark&Rhodas chickens when we kids were young so not good memories. I think we’ll get 5 or 6 and Morgan’s family usually get the Rhode Island Red and Barred Rock chickens so does anyone have ideas and advice on the whole raising chickens thing?

Today is another rain day so I’m going to get stuff done inside. We are having company tonight…I’m making this yum soup I like to call Hauder Chowder but that’s as far as I’ve got. Have a wonderful day❤☔

I guess some people can’t comment on here..not sure why. So message me with your ideas regarding my posts or for recipes!

Dublin, Ireland

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Yesterday, March 17

We woke up and it was snowing outside which was so happy. But it was sorta late and the guys got breakfast downstairs while I got around. We were at the hostel for awhile in the morning because we didnt need to be at the airport until 2. We got the final Metro to the airport and had lunch at a pizza place.

One fun thing we did at the airport was stop and watch the Maarten Baas Real Time clock. If you ever get to Amsterdam Schipol Airport go to Lounge 2 and you will see it as well. Anyways the clock is hung from the ceiling and instead of two hands to tell time, there is a man that draws in the hands doe the time. Every minute he paints the hand on, then by the time hes finished drawing it he has to clean it off so he can draw the next minute on. We had debates on whether or not the man is real in the clock or if hes a video. I of course think it perfectly possible for people to take turns being in the clock. Morgan and Ja think its a video. I will let YOU read up on it here and find out who’s right. Wink wink. https://www.designboom.com/design/maarten-baas-real-time-schiphol-clock-airport-amsterdam-07-04-2016/

We got into Dublin at 5:30 ish and got a bus downtown in snow and 30* weather. It was hilarious. St. Patricks Day was still in full swing and there were crowds of people everywhere and all of them wearing green hats or a fake red beards or Ireland flags. Everyone was jolly and singing and those who had drank more than average were saying such funny things we overheard as we walked by. We ate supper at Eddy Rockets and warmed up. Then we walked around downtown Dublin awhile before making our way back to the airport. We camped on the comfy chairs overnight and fell asleep to the sounds of wind and snow.

Today, March 18

We woke up also to the sounds of wind and snow. We all crossed our fingers that our flights wouldn’t be cancelled or delayed and none of them were! Our plane left at 12:30 but with deicing and stuff we didn’t leave til 2. Our flight felt so so long. It was about 11 hours long and none of us could sleep really and we all just wanted to be home.

Jo&Kellie picked us up from the airport so another 2 hour drive and then…we were finally home at our little house surrounded by almond orchards. There are no grand medieval churches, or bumpy cobblestone streets, and the Eiffel Tower can’t be seen from my house but the feeling of having a little house that’s a home with someone you love is far more beautiful than anything else on this good earth. Its nice to be back with my alpaca blanket around me and my moccasins on my exhausted feet and a little pile of love mail to open from friends and family. Xo❤

Cologne➡Amsterdam

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Yesterday, March 15

We went across the street for breakfast this morning to Zeit für Brot and had coffee cake and lattes. Then we shopped for awhile at the Belgian Quarter here in Cologne.

Then we once again I think for the last time😥 bought train tickets to Amsterdam. We had lunch in the station and watched people for awhile. Then a 3 hour train ride to Amsterdam. We will be here in Amsterdam tomorrow cuz we have some stuff we want to do here yet. We got a cool hostel abit out of town that has games and a place to hang out so we were just there for supper.

Today, March 16

So we woke up slow today cuz we’d had a weird night. Some guy came in at 4 am and shook us awake demanding an iphone charger and higher than a kite and making lots of noise so we all were awake and tried to go back to sleep. We got up and had breakfast here and then walked to the metro.

It was bitterly cold today with a strong wind so it was good we walked lots. We went to an area of Amsterdam where there were lots of little boutique and secondhand shops along a cobblestone street. It was a good day looking around and we spent several hours there. Ate lunch at a cozy little place that had free tap water thankfully. It’s hard to get water some places without paying alot for it but here in AMS it’s more available.

One of the shops we went in was a meat shop that had whole legs and shoulders of meat with hooves still attached. They aged it for awhile and the price was between $300 and $1,150 dollars for ONE pound. There were some guys in there buying some and they said its really worth the money. Obviously we didn’t try it but we watched for a bit and they just take a leg and cut super thin slices off that reminds me of prosciutto. Id never seen anything like it.

Another thing about the cities we’ve been here in Europe (so not necessarily europe in general) is that pedestrians here do NOT have right of way. If you assume youre in Canada you will be the hood ornament on a bike, tram or moped. I guess it makes sense because there are so many people here.

So we bought some neat stuff and froze so we came back to the hostel and had supper and relaxed and repacked for the next leg of our journey. We leave tomorrow for a St. Patrick’s day layover in Dublin🎉 and then onto San Francisco. Gnite from the Netherlands..