Summer Bounty

 Summer has begun! Only, here in Oregon's Willamette Valley, you'd hardly know it. We've had a few days of sun, but rain has mostly been on the forecast. :(  However, despite the slightly dismal weather, Mom and I have been out to berry pick! Yuh-uhm! Just this morning we picked 14 1/2 lbs of sweet, juicy strawberries in only an hour! Though the day has turned out grey and drizzly, the morning started off with a light coastal breeze, warm sunshine, and blue skies. Mmmmm - heavenly blissfulness.
 I decided this evening that I was going to try and update my blog to reflect not only the lightness of summer, but theme it with my " new " obsession - Paris! However, a loooong time later I gave up. Nothing fit for a custom background or matched for a heading etc, etc, etc... :(  BUT...I'm gonna show up my stubborn blog settings and post my favorite pictures. :) ( In which, of course, the Eiffel Tower is shown is each :) )

Naturally, it would be lovely to take a solo trip...

But how much more lovely to visit with the one you love? :)

Sweet :) 

Spring in Paris!

Bliss...

Melt. :)

Ahhhh, if only...

It's a bit blurry, but oh, I LOVE this shot. 

Breathtaking!

My favorite season in my favorite city...

J'adore Paris!

My new sign-off signature!
Bon Voyage Mon Amour!
<3

Busy, Busy, Buz-Buz

Hahaha, the title for today's post is from something my grandma used to say when someone was busy going here and there, doing this and that - kind of like a bumble bee. I certainly feel that. Well, not like a bumble bee, but...well, I'm sure all you smart folks out there get what I'm saying. :D I'm just too tired right now, that is my problem. BUT. I feel terribly guilty that I have not kept up with posting, especially in light of all the fun I've had this last week and a half. So...I shall begin with the Thursday before last.

June 7, 2010 : I worked a full day, and it was my last day. For those who aren't aware, for the past nine months I have been working at a child care center. It was a seasonal job. I was sad to leave... :/ Not but a half hour after I got off work my pastor and his daughter picked me up on the way to the airport to pick up a minister and his family that were coming to visit and he was preaching for the weekend. The Ward family from Tennessee. :) They have two daughters, Jessica, 20, and Allison, 13.

June 8, 2012 : Brunch with the Wards, shopping, youth meeting at 7 pm. The youth meeting was awesome. It was a small group and a short meeting, but the lesson was powerful. The verses Bro. Ward used were from first Timothy 4:12 ( Let no man despise thy youth... ) and second Kings 5:1-5 ( The captive girl tells of one in Israel who can pray for Naaman to be healed ). He brought out that sometimes we feel we are too young, too small, too insignificant, too bound...too whatever to believe God can use us. That though sometimes we may feel we don't measure up to the giants of the Faith who are in the Bible ( Solomon, Paul, Peter... ), yet God has placed in his Word simple people, people in bad situations, children, women,  etc... to remind us that it is not us, it is God in us, using us. We just have to be willing. Pretty amazing, huh?!

June 9, 2012 : We went to Silver Falls. :D It was freezing cold, but fun, pretty, and awesome all the same. Sorry, no pics from this trip. We had a Saturday night service. It was really good! Bro. Ward spoke on how when we accept Christ and are filled with the Holy Ghost, we are then joint-heirs with Him. All He is, we have equal access too. He has checks all written out for us to use ( unlimited!! ), signed with His blood. Anything we have need of, we just fill out that check. Healing, salvation for a loved one, more faith... All we have to do is ask and believe it will be taken care of. :)

June 10, 2012 : Church in the morning. It was beyond amazing! There was such an anointing and presence of the Lord throughout the whole service. Bro. Ward expounded further into his subject the night before and went deeper. After service we had a potluck at Bro. Rich's ( my pastor ). Tacos...yum! The Ward girls and I found that we shared a love of foosball and we roped a couple of the guys into playing a few games too, since we like to play two to a side. It got pretty intense! It was lots of fun though. Later that night after everyone had left and we had rested, we took the Wards to a nearby walking park place where there is an outlook spot on a hill and you can see the valley. You can walk through the woods too and sometimes you can spot deer. We not only spotted a deer, but happened upon a little lizard thing. SO adorable! I was one of the only ones brave enough to touch it. I picked it up and petted it. :) I wish I could have kept it. I would have named it William. :)

June 11, 2012 : THE COAST!!!! :D I LOVE the coast. :) :) :) We had lunch at Mo's at Lincoln City, then walked out on the beach for awhile and collected shells, took pics, splashed in the waves and had an INCREDIBLE time. :) We ladies topped it off with a trip through Tanger Outlet. I got a steal on some Old Navy and Aeropostale T's. Bliss! Here are some pics atlast!

Aren't they SO CUTE??!! :D

Allison! :)

The Ward Family

We found a dead starfish! SO AWESOME!!!

Jessica and Allison were like, " EEEWWW, I really don't want to touch this thing! " Hahaha

Some unique rocks Si found

Alli, me, & Jess
( Sorry, this isn't the best pic ever, but it's the only one I have )

 June 12, 2012 : Not much to report. The Wards left. The Cobb's oldest girl, Anna ( 10 ), left for Ohio with her grandma. Mostly R & R'd. That evening a friend of the Cobb's came with a friend of hers and they stayed for a couple days.

 June 13, 2012 : Went to the Peony Gardens in Brooks with Jo, her friend Vittie ( Victoria ), Charity and the kids. We went to Silver Falls again too. This time I got pictures! :) 

In. Love.

SO beautiful and unique!

I have no idea what the name of this is, but it is STUNNING!

Winter Falls, Silver Creek Falls.

Same Fall.

 Hope ya'll enjoyed! Sorry it was SO long, but I just had to share it all. :) Bon Voyages mi amores! <3!

Hurrah!

 Sweet victory! Yesterday I finished the last of my online school stuff! It has been a long few months, pushing myself to pull ahead and complete it. All said and done, I have done over a semester's worth of school in three subjects in something like three to four months. !!!! And I actually learned stuff! Hehehehe. Well, that said, I still have some book work to polish off in between my summer travels etc... It won't be easy, but considering the amazing feat I have just accomplished, I think I can do it. =D

 To celebrate, Mom took me to McGrath's after work and errands last night. Mmmm-mmm, it was tasty! We started off with sourdough bread and a garden salad, then our main dish. I had Coconut Crusted Ahi Tuna with a spicy pineapple sauce ( And a Strawberry Lemonade ) ( I had to take the fries and green beans home that come with it because I wanted to save some room for dessert ). Mom had Hazelut Crusted Sole. Both are SUPER yummy...I highly recommend. To top off the meal, Mom and I tackled Mile High Mud Pie. This is a fabulous, dreamy creation. A large wedge of almond fudge ice cream set in an oreo cookie crust, topped with carmel vanilla ice cream and whipped cream and heath bar chunks, surrounded by a sea of warm fudge sauce and carmel. Are you drooling yet? Hahaha, 'cause I am! Mom and I were already full, so we had to leave some ( shhhh ). We finished off the evening by renting a movie. BEST evening in a LOOONG time. It was so nice to just chill out. =) Bon Voyage! ( Oh, how do you like the re-decorating I did to my blog? I loooove it! So calming and relaxing. )