Its Been A Long Time...

yes - we've already established...I'm a bad blogger. Its who I am. You either love me or you decide it is one of those things that you just can't live with.... I understand if you leave me for it...

So...that's actually a good idea for a blog - what are those things that you just can't live with in your friends - or for that matter - future 'mate' - what are the deal breakers?

Team Crazy!!!!!

So - yes - many of you are aware - I am part crazy. And now I have found some friends who have joined my team. Yessssss!!!!!!!!

Just kidding - well - sort of. As stated below, I have started to work with Young Life and am LOVING it! I love these kids and I love being able to fully embrace the silly/crazy side of life. And there are others who like to partake in the fun too! So, last night - we had Main Event night with bowling and laser tag - so what better time to debut the new outfits? So - here is the craziness - love love love it!

Meet Team Crazy:



Audrey aka B - Dawg:




Kendall aka K - Dawg (fyi - this might be one of my favorite all time pics)



And me - aka HO - Dawg (initials people)




Here are some just funny shots to make you laugh -













Until next time....

Young Life

So...we're back! School is officially back in session. And surprisingly, I am loving it. I fought coming back - wasn't ready for summer to end - but now that I'm back - I love it! I have some of the greatest kids! I have 3 sections of Algebra and 2 of 7th grade regular math - which makes me happy!

Kendall & me on the first day of school -


Me & Abby - one of my former students who game to visit me after her first day of high school -



So, why title this blog Young Life? Well...not only am I starting to do Young Life and LOVE it - but I figure - that is what I'm kind of feeling. Like I'm in this young life. I think I have wisdom, but I don't. And that quickly gets pointed out to me. But I love that I still am young. Yes, 30 is young people! :-) Its so funny to me how I think I have things figured out, but am quickly reminded, whether through life experiences, friends, or God just screaming at me, I don't. But its good that I don't -

So Young Life - the organization - LOVE IT! Kendall and I had our first leadership retreat this weekend and it was so fun. I love the leaders and I am so excited about the ministry. We had the first event yesterday, and oh my goodness - it was amazing! So many of my kids were there from last year and I even got to bring 2 who I don't think have ever been exposed to Young Life. So fun! I'm just really excited to get to continue these relationships with my students that I spent 2 years with. Its going to be amazing! :)

Ok - here are some pics from the retreat and then the pool party yesterday - enjoy!

This is Kendall and me trying to make our swimsuits YL appropriate -


And here we are on the boat - trying to savor our tans...


Post Waterskiiing - yesssss!!!!


Kendall & me at the YL Pool Party


Me & Kaitlyn - one of new YL girls and favorites from the past 2 years!

Wildlife Adventure Tour

Today has been just amazing....and when I say amazing, I mean amazing. The scenery and landscape that our God provides is breathtaking. I have never felt so small in all my life. Having the sun out today just put everything in a new light...literally. It was breathtaking and I loved it. We went on a wildlife adventure tour which was basically a zodiac boat taking us through the Canadian waters... I didn't know that something so beautiful (that wasn't Carribean) existed this close to America. And was so untouched. It just reminded me of what it must have been like at creation - all this nature that hasn't been destroyed by humans yet. It was beautiful. We were able to see some seals, and a few dolphins, but the true experience was watching these bald eagles feast on these fish that can't survive the whirlpools that happen once a day due to the tides. To see one bald eagle in the wild is an experience, but to see about 20 just soaring above your head is just breath taking. They were gorgeous. Anyways, below are some pics from the tour - some of the most beautiful sights I might have ever seen.

The last picture is of seals (they kind of blend in)










We come home tomorroww...will be a long day of traveling - so pray for me. I mean, we're getting up at 4 am and driving back to Victoria, taking a flight from Victoria to Seattle and then Seattle to Dallas. Will be a long day indeed. I'm excited to see all of my friends - and the pool. Its been a long week without y'all. :-)

No Fish For You - but here's a big whale and some amazing scenery!

So yesterday was a little bit of a crazy - and busy day! We started off bright and early on a whale watching tour - on one of those little zodiac boats. So fun! But so cold! It was a dreary day and a little chilly so I got to come thaw myself out after - but it was so worth it. The scenery was just beautiful! We didn't see any Orcas (killer whales) but we did get to see a large hump back - and then we got to see some black bears (Go Blalack!). They were so much smaller than I had pictured, but were so cute. I wanted to grab one and put it in our little boat and take him home...however, I was advised that wasn't a good idea. We did see a few cubs and they were so playful.

The afternoon we went salmon fishing with no luck. :-( Oh well - it was a fun experience and I couldn't have asked for a better backdrop. God has been so good at putting some praise songs in my head as I sit and just stare at his glorious creation. It really is so beautiful.

Today we are heading out on a wildlife adventure tour which should be fun. What I'm most excited about is the fact that it is sunny! YESSSSSS!!!! I've been sitting on my balcony in my swimsuit top reading trying to soak up some rays. Pitiful I know. But like I said, the secnery is beautiful and this isn't a pool - so I'm still experiencing something new. :-)

Here are some pics from yesterday - I'll try and update today's later.... Hope we see some fun wildlife!

Miss you all!

The Fisherman's Lodge

So - we're now at Campbell's River - which is I think the salmon fishing capitol of Victoria - I think - regardless - there is a lot of fishing going on here. We're staying at the Painter's Lodge which is a beautiful FISHING resort - I say that because this is one of the nicest resorts, however, is fully done in camping motiffe - its awesome. My room has a very 'log cabin' feel to it - definitely different from the Delta Pointe that we just stayed at. The view though is to die for - if only it would quit raining. And we have a pub in our hotel, which the fishermen apparently all come to after they've caught their fish....

Nothing too exciting to report for today - its kind of been a lazy day. We drove about 4 hours up here and I've just been relaxing. Tomorrow we have to be up early for our whale watching trip and then salmon fishing. Pray I don't fall off the boat - or freeze to death - which at this point is a real possibility.

Here are some scenic shots from Campbell River and our drive up here (notice how much of a tourist I look like - apparently I've bought a few souveniers)





And here is my hotel room...yessss - along with the view from my balcony -

Whale Watching 101

Ok - so I know that title doesn't really make sense, because I'm not going to teach you how to whale watch - but I just liked it. So, I wrote it. :-)

Today was such an adventure - and COLD! Our God is so amazing and has such a creative eye. As I sad on the top deck of our boat as we were driving to the spot - I was just amazed at how beautiful and big our God is. I mean, he created all of this - it was beautiful. Granted, I started to not be able to feel my nose, so I had to go below, but that turned out to be pretty great too - bc our little skipper guy taught me some great new info about whales. The place we went to has 3 pods of killer whales - or families - and they really are like families. The pods were J, K, and L - and those members are only allowed to breed within those pods - so like a male from J can only 'date' a female from K or L - and vice versa. And once they breed, the males go back to their mommas and leave the female's pod to raise the calf. Which they all do - it was so interesting!

So....I didn't get the greatest pics - they're kinda hard to catch - but here are a couple that you can hopefully see them in - plus a few shots of the amazing scenery - and then a shot of me and my dad before we left. The picture doesn't show it, but I was shivering -

We leave for Campbell River tomorrow where we're going to Salmon fish, whale watch and go on some wildlife adventure tour - should be interesting!

I do love my wine...

So today was our wine tour day - so fun! The weather was crappy - and I mean that - it was cold and drizzly all day, but I'm learning that every time I take a wine tour, that is what the weather does, so I'm pretty used to it. But we had so much fun! We were in this limo bus thing - probably holds about 12 people, but we just had 7 - me and my dad, and 5 women celebrating one of their birthdays. They were awesome. All about 50 with grown kids - and such fun personalities. It made the trip so fun bc they were HILARIOUS! And its nice to throw some new personalities into the mix....I mean, I love my dad, but when its just you and him for a few days, having some new friends can make all the difference! Plus, it made me excited to be grown up with my girl friends....and I can totally see doing that with my girls when I get older.

So - we toured 4 wineries, one big one, one cidery, and 2 small local wineries - and had our fair share to drink at each one of them. Fortunately, I've learned my limit so I knew when to pour out the wines and when to enjoy them...plus, why waste the tolerance on a wine I'm not crazy about? We drank a lot of dessert wines (ports - but you're not allowed to call them ports anymore unless they're from Portugal - I know - I learned something new too!) I'm not a fan of the dessert wines, but I did find one at the cidery that I loved - so that is one souvenier I got for myself...apparently its really good on waffles....ha - can you imagine? So - here are my pics for the day -

We're on our way to the tour - this is their Parlimant building - notice the hood - no, I'm not trying to go gangster - it was raining and this was all I had - I know, its a good look for me! :-)


This is supposed to be one of the most amazing views in Victoria - however, it rained today, so we didn't get the full effect. However, I think its pretty amazing!


This was at the cidery - where I learned so much! Did you know that cider is made from apples? And not normal apples, but cider apples? I did not. I have never been a fan of cider - well, normally - but I really liked this stuff...




And finally - this is from one of the local wineries....isn't it beautiful?


So - that was today - we're going to have dinner here in our hotel tonight and then probably relax. Tomorrow is our first whale watching tour - eeeeeeeeeee! I'm really excited, but also a little nervous on how cold I will be! Oh well, I'm sure those bright yellow slickers they make you wear will provide some warmth, right?

Hope everyone is having a great week - I miss you all!

New Town - New Room

So....first off - let me just tell you - come to Victoria! It is BEAUTIFUL here! And has such a great feel to it - the people are so friendly, the city is clean, and apparently the weather is normally perfect. For me, its a little chilly - but apparenlty they're having freak winter weather. Which is nice for everyone else, but me, brilliant here only brought shorts and one pair of jeans. So this high of 65 crap isn't gonna cut it. I've worn the same sweatshirt hoodie (love my PPNT girls) and light jacket everyday - I may have to purchase a fleece in the next day or so. However, I'm not finding souvenier pants anywhere....someone should start selling those...they'd make a killing!

Anyways, I'm going to attach a few pics from the Space Needle in Seattle. We had dinner there last night and the view was spectacular. Its just like Reunion Tower where it rotates for a full view of the city...but this food was to die for. Seriously. One thing that I found interesting was that the menu I had didn't have prices on it...yet my dad's did. Apparently this is how it used to be - women never knew the price of the entree's so they would order what they wanted, versus what the cheapest item was. Well we all know I'm not one to do that anyways...but I thought it was interesting. It was good though that I didn't know the prices because I would have just gone with the house salad and water...and I still would have hit the $35 per person minimum. Afterwards though we went up to the observation deck where I really wish they would have warned me of the wind gusts and the effects they have on loose skirts...ooops! Guess I left my mark on Seattle!





So...now on to Canada - we took a ferry over to Victoria this morning...EARLY! Well early for me on vacation. So today - I am a sleepy girl. But it was fun and a different way to cross the border. So - anyways - our hotel is amazing!!! I know I've said this before, but it really is....my room has a kitchen in it - and its not even a suite! Which I'm quite thankful for - because lets face it, I'm an amazing cook and that is what I really want to do on my vacation. Its like all of my dreams are coming true. The view though is what is breathtaking. We're right on the harbor so we see boats and sea planes pulling in constantly - yes - you read that - sea planes. My dad went on one today - however, I did not - I opted to go to the historical gardens - which were so beautiful. This reminded me a lot of Melbourne - it was just so green and clean - and beautiful. AND - I went by myself, which kind of took me back to that trip as well - just being on your own being able to do what you want when you want - and meeting different types of people because you are alone. However, instead of meeting people, I decided to sit down and read and journal, well that last about 10 minutes, because sitting lead to just laying down for a second, which then led to me falling asleep. yes, I napped in a park in the middle of the Botchart Gardens....only me. But it was beautiful.

Tomorrow will be our wine tour - 5 1/2 hours of touring Canadian wineries....this is gonna be interesting!

Here is my room along with a few view shots:





Here are a few pics from my new favorite napping locale -





And finally - this is Bob. Bob likes to hang out on my balcony rail...we've become pretty close in the day I've been here....