Land of the Beautiful People

We just returned from a refreshing 10-day vacation to our "former" home in Orange County.  My heart is full and I'm feeling thoroughly blessed by the generosity of friends.  They sacrificially gave their time, prayers, and invited us into their homes.

We chose to head to the OC, after only four months in our new Midwest location, mainly because our passes to Disneyland expire on the 15th of this month, although many think it was because we're already experiencing a freeze-out here.  Yes, we're freezing in this 30 degree weather, but we hear it's bound to get much colder!  I'm learning to love being inside the house.  Bread is baking in the oven as I type.  Cold weather makes for cozy, comfort food.

Although my heart is full from time with friends and blessed by the magic of Disney, one thing I was reminded of while we were in the OC is: IT IS THE LAND OF THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE.  You can't miss it!  They are EVERYWHERE!  A few steps off the plane, I looked around and knew, yes, I'm back in Orange County.  Fabulous Shoes, Coach bags, manicured eyebrows, the whitest most amazing teeth, and gorgeous hair.  Not many bushy brows or ponytails to be seen.

Never Let Me Go

We've packed up and headed east.  In making this job transfer we've left behind palm trees, beautiful beaches, the hustle and bustle of Orange County and countless friends.  It's hard.  My heart aches to be close to the rushing waves.  I've lived close to the Pacific for the last 25+ years.  I didn't realize how much I'd miss it or how claustrophobic I'd feel without it.

Wishing for the Back Peddle in Life

It was 1986.  Southern Illinois across the river from St. Louis.  I packed up my royal blue '73 VW Super Beetle and followed my mom in her Dodge Caravan and my dad in his red '64 Volvo 544.

This looks exactly like my dad's car

Here's my bug...and my friends from high school.
Not sure what they're doing. I think they're breakdancing.

We were packed and heading west.

Truth be told, I'm a west coast girlie.  Born in Washington, raised mostly between Washington and California, but I spent three years in small-town mid-America where I graduated from high school and attended my first year of college.

In those three years, I became a mid-west girl.  I loved it SO MUCH!  I had amazing friends.  I had acclimated to the heat and humidity along with the miserable deathly cold winters.  I planned on growing old in Southern Illinois, sitting around the table with my midwest girlies talking about small town life, and having my kids know about corn fields and lightning bugs, but my plans were abruptly changed.

In the summer of 1986 my dad received orders (military Colonel) to head west.  I was going back to the familiarity of the Pacific Northwest, but my heart wanted to stay in the midwest.

Much to my despair and objection, we packed up and headed west across the U.S.

My heart was being ripped out.  I think it somehow broke.  The grief set in.

I loved the life in the midwest.

Following our departure, sadly, I entered the worst years of my life.  I won't go into how bad they were.  Just know....They sucked!

Then in 1988, life began improving.  I transferred to a great college, met the love of my life, and the rest is history, or so they say.

Fast forward 20+ years.

We're living the BEST LIFE ever!  To be honest, I think we live in paradise.  The last three years have gone by in a blink and they have brought me countless moments of joy.  Life in the O.C. has been completely dreamy.

Never in a million years did I think we'd ever live anywhere but the west coast.  I find comfort knowing the ocean is close.  I love seeing the water.  The sunshine and moderate climate are appealing.  I consider myself a coastal girl.

But wait...

Transfer???

To where???

The Midwest???

Illinois??

Again???

I have long since let go of the midwest girl I once was.

I'm trying to wrap my head and heart around this one.

I'm trying to remind myself I have precious friends in the Land of Lincoln.  There are adventures to be had, opportunities to embrace!

But really, it's just my heart that is breaking.

The other night we went to a movie with some friends of my oldest son and one of the dads.

At the end of the movie, the friend's dad, a scruffy teddy-bear-of-a-guy and former undercover police officer hugged me and said, "Come back to California.  Come back to California."

I'd really like to.

Three years ago, when I moved back to California after years away, I got off the plane, took a deep breath, and thought, "I'm back!"  It felt good.  I feel like this is a land I belong in.

I hope there is good in store for us although right now it's tough to think of life somewhere else.

I'd really like to back peddle and somehow find a way to stay in Orange County.

Nothing's coming.

Pray for us as we enter this new chapter in our lives.

Prayer for our kids and my hub would be appreciated.  I grew up doing this...it's tough stuff.  Moving, finding a home, friends, church, school opportunities, sports programs, etc.  It can be overwhelming and we're feeling it now.

T-minus not so many days...

And counting.

Make Way for The Ducklings!

Finding the extraordinary amidst the ordinary.

Today was an ordinary day.  I dropped the kids off at Junior Guards, then headed to have the oil changed in the car.  Finished up at the auto shop and then headed for home.

On the way home the lane of traffic I was in came to a sudden halt.  I tried switching lanes, and then also promptly stopped.

Crossing the street was a proud momma duck with her precious 9 ducklings.  They looked so small and helpless clustered close behind their momma.  They were headed to the local park.

Bucket List: Live Like You Were Dying

A number of years ago Tim McGraw came out with his song, "Live Like You Were Dying."

Even though some may listen to the song and think it sad and depressing, when I hear it I think, "Make the most of everyday!  It's a GIFT!"  I try to never take for granted waking up to enjoy another morning.  I cherish every night falling asleep holding the hand of the love of my life.  Daily, looking into the eyes of three precious children and watching them do what kids do is a gift!  I never want to pass up the opportunity to hug one of our kids or let them play with my hair.  As I type right now, one of them is sitting on the same dining room chair with me with his head on my shoulder.  Love it!

The days pass much too quickly and at the end of this blessed life I hope to say I did the best with what I had.  My mom gave me a quote by Erma Bombeck.  I have it hanging in my office.  It reads:

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'"

Now I could get all hung up with the fact that I don't have any recognizable talent.  I can't play an instrument.  I'm not very coordinated or athletic.  I CAN'T sing!  I can't dance, unless you consider the jerking motion displayed by Elaine Benes dancing. But this "idea" of talent may not be what real talent is.

Webster defines talent as, "A natural ability or power."

Natural ability or power.  Hmmm...  Natural abilities.  I like that!  We all have some natural abilities to share with others.

One ability could be the art of exploring, experiencing and having fun. Remember...make the most of and appreciate every day?

Organizing outings seems to be a natural ability.

I'm beginning to formulate a bucket list for Southern California.  One item on the list is:

VIEW A LIVE TAPING OF TELEVISION TALK SHOW

I've been trying, without success, to get tickets to The Ellen Show.  I'll keep trying.

In the meantime, last month I received an email asking if I'd like to attend a taping of the Dr. Drew Lifechangers program.  To be honest, I thought it was junk mail.  I had never watched the Dr. Drew show and actually never heard of it.  I've seen Dr. Drew Pinsky before, but didn't know he had his own program.  I deleted the email.

This month, I received the email invitation again.  I looked into it a bit more.  It sounded interesting.  I went ahead and responded requesting four tickets.

This week two friends and I went to a taping.  It was an experience to say the least!  For the last two days since the taping, I've been thinking of how to blog what we saw and heard.  So many thoughts have swirled around my brain.

I think I'll have two more posts following with the events of the shows.  One show was about the Octomom, Nadya Suleman, and the other was about the growing number of women looking to pursue careers in prostitution apparently as a result of the economic downturn.  Needless to say, with an afternoon on those two topics we had plenty of conversation for the three hour LA traffic mess on the way home.

My brain is still swimming with thoughts.  Until the next post...

Making History: Guinness Book of World Records

As a child I remember spending countless hours laying on the living room floor looking at the crazy photos of the World Record holders featured in The Guinness Book of World Records.  Who could forget images like these:

The long-time world record holder for nails:

The world's tallest and shortest man meet:

World Record Holding Heaviest Twins

I could continue to look up these interesting and sometimes mind-boggling world record holders, but for today we want to celebrate the fact that yesterday (11/8/2011) we participated in a world record holding event!  Thankfully, I did not have to grow freakish nails for the last 30 years, or gain an obscene amount of weight, or attempt an obscure feat.  All we had to do was what we love...go on a field trip, spend time together and learn about HISTORY!

We were part of what we hope was the world's largest history lesson.  It is estimated that 20,000 third graders attended!

It was a well-planned hour of Orange County history.  The event was complete with entertainment, audience participation celebrity appearances and leaders in the community including:

Caroline Sunshine from Disney's "Shake it Up"
Stan Oftelie, author of Nothing Rhymes With Orange
Gail Eastman, Anaheim Councilwoman and historian
Bill Habermehl, Superintendent of Public Schools
Jose Mota, former baseball player announcer for the Anaheim Angels
Ambassador Gaddi Vasquez, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture and former head of the Peace Corps
And what Orange County event would be complete without a visit from long time resident, MICKEY MOUSE!

One of the interactive question games

Caroline Sunshine

Stan Oftelie and Gail Eastman

Gaddi Vasquez

Jose Mota

Bill Habermehl and Mickey!

The Guests

In addition to the dancing, guest speakers, and interactive learning the students were able to see a comparison of Orange County growth using doves.  One dove represented Orange County's earlier population of 13,000 people.  The many doves represent the O.C.'s current population of over 3 million!

The doves flying away

At the end of the program a helicopter was flying over.  Suddenly it came closer and closer!  It landed on Angel field!  We all anxiously waited to see who was inside.

The helicopter held a representative (complete with English accent) from Guinness Book of World Records.  He was certifying the event as a new world record.

Attending students received a tote bag with a copy of Nothing Rhymes with Orange by Stan Oftelie.  Our kids immediately opened the book to read it following the event and continued to share tidbits throughout the day.

Our 3rd grader with a friend

The volunteers

Tote bags in hand...CLASS!

The Krispy Kreme outing that followed the field trip.  Fresh chocolate donuts!

Here's the news article from the OC Register:

http://www.ocregister.com/news/history-325829-orange-county.html

What a GREAT morning of learning the history of Orange County!

A Dreamy Date Night

It seems that every marriage book recommends regular date nights and warns of the marriage perils if couples do not adhere to a scheduled date night routine.  Yes, it would be great to have a disposable income and to take advantage of weekly date nights (or even monthly), but that has never been a reality for us.  It's not that we don't recognize the benefits of spending alone time together, we have just never had the extra money sitting around to 1. Pay for the date and 2.  Pay the babysitter.

Now that our oldest is into his teen years we're able to get away close to home for a coffee or to go for a run.  We're usually gone for a short period of time and are close enough if anything were to happen we're no more than 2 miles away.

Every once in awhile and I'm talking ONCE in AWHILE we get out on a REAL date!  We went out once in the spring, on my birthday, and now once in the summer.  Maybe we're a seasonal date night couple.  In the spring we had our former babysitter visiting with us and she offered to watch the kiddos so we could get away. 

Maybe she wanted to babysit since we showed her such a great time at RAINY Disneyland

A good babysitter lets the babysittee apply crazy make-up

Or maybe she let us go on a date because I fed her yummy food!

Here she is with 2 of our 3 kiddos

About a month ago, my hub sent me an email letting me know he had purchased tickets for an Angels baseball game followed by a Dierks Bentley concert at Angel Stadium.  I cannot turn down a date as GREAT as that!  We only feel comfortable being further away from home for many hours with a friend hanging out with the kids.  Fortunately, I was able to secure someone I know and trust to spend time with our precious three.

I didn't know what to expect from our little evening out.  I tend to be the person who only deals with what needs to be done at that given time on the given day- some people might say procrastinator, I just think it's living in the moment.  On the way to the Sold-Out game, I was teasing my date a little.  I asked him questions like, "Is this a REAL date, like the kind where you don't ask me if I have parking money?"  He reassured me he had the cash on hand.  I had no idea what section we were sitting in or even what time the game was.  Bummer for us as we were an hour late to the game, but no problem.

One of the three home runs was hit to our section!  The sun was bright and the evening was great!  The Angels beat the Mariners.  I felt a little bad for the Mariners again, but that's the way it goes.

Love the sun!

Following the game we proceeded onto the field for our up close Dierks Bentley concert.  Not only were we going to see Dierks live, we were going to watch him from Angel dirt.  The band and the stage were wheeled out onto the field right after the game.  If you had a wristband you were allowed out to watch.  I can honestly say it appears Country is going strong in Orange County.  Many fans in the stadium stayed and enjoyed the concert in the stands.  It was so cool to look up in the stadium and see all the people dancing and singing.

Dierks Bentley

The Crowd

The Couple

My Feet on the Angel Field

The night was going so well.  We were having a blast.  Word at home was the kids were having a blast.  It was successful date night.  Then I glanced to my left and saw a familiar face.  Since we don't have cable and I pretty much don't like the content of what is available on television we don't watch much.  We do have Netflix and Hulu and follow a couple shows.  One show we watch is Friday Night Lights.  I think it's my small town fix.  Anyway, I glanced over and who do I see?  Tim Riggins!  Okay, at this point I didn't know his real name, but I was pretty sure it was Tim Riggins minus the long hair.  I so wanted to go up and ask him, but what if it was just a look alike?  After the concert we walked away.  My supportive hub (who thinks I'm a wee bit silly, I'm sure) told me to go ask, be the high school girl that I truly am, but I was too embarrassed.  When we walked to the car I knew my chances were gone.  Big stadium, big parking lot.  As we were waiting for cars to leave, I glance up and who was there...Tim Riggins, actually his name is Taylor Kitsch, thank goodness for internet phones.  He was there again!  I so wanted to take my famous self-portrait with him...just because, but I lost any nerve I may possess and we left.  Drove home.  End of story.  This is the second time in my life I've chickened out on something like this.  Bummer!  Note to self:  You're too old to be a chicken! 

Taylor Kitsch?

The good news is I drove home with the love of my life.  We had a WONDERFUL date night!  I'm looking forward to another exciting one.  I wonder what he has planned for the fall?