Etsy...

On this blog you've been exposed to some of my photographic efforts. For the past several years I have been turning my photography into journal themed notecards, and recently I added them to Etsy. You can view what I have online here: www.BlueSeehorseImages.etsy.com Only a small fraction of what I have is online, feel free to call if you're looking for something special.

A toast to all parents!

My sister had her 3rd child this week, and Chris and I had the pleasure of taking care of Asaiah, 9 years old, and Porter, 15 months old, for 3 days. Chris and I love them both, as well as the 9 nieces and nephews his siblings have added to the family, but I'll tell you our appreciation for parents went way up this week. Yes I know it's different when they are your own and you kinda grown into life together, but boy howdy we were glad to pass them back to their parents and get back to the peace and quiet of our "normal" life. I suppose it didn't help that we got a call as we were headed to bed on Monday eve. Midnight found us at the hospital and at 1:30, just before the crabbies set in we decided to take the kids home, where we arrived at 3am. Only to be woken by their dog (oh did I mention we had LuLu as well???) at 3:30 and 5:30 and my mother at 8:30 to tell us Justine Raquel Montoya Randell had arrived at 5:30. And then, Porter was up. She was so tired she went into Energizer bunny mode. Needless to say we all took naps on Tuesday.
When Asiaha was growing up, we spent a lot of time with he and Ang. Now that she's married and living over an hour away, we haven't spent as much time with Asaiah or with Porter. It was good to connect and to be a part of their lives. I hope we are connected to Justine in the same way.

I've finally succumbed ...

...to Facebook. Two events pushed me over the edge, one getting an invite that turned out to be sent in error (Facebook sucked her entire Outlook address book when she signed on at work) and the desire to reconnect with an old friend whos' contact info I had had expired. I've found it fun, a bit voyeuristic but I've re-connected with several people.

On another note... I won a copy of Nadine Zawacki's first book, I expect more will follow. It's titled Prisoner of Circumstance. I was hooked from page 3. I've added it to my reading shelf... but having trouble making the shelf behave...

Snow and dreaming of the sun...

Alot has happened in the last 3 weeks. We finally got out the 28th, Chris towed the truck to the main road which was bare and dry. We had snow until the 4th when we began getting warmer weather and heavy rains... which resulted in flooding. No water in or near the house, Thank God, but the driveway had about 2' of water in the "low spot", and Ben Howard was closed for a day and a half. Our driveway and Ben Howard are now open, but we have a lake in the yard. All in all we've been house bound for about 3 weeks of the last 6. One of the main things that has been keeping us busy has been building our new Travel business. You can book your travel here: www.Wild2Travel.com.The PowerSearch engine is the most robust in the industry. Sign up as a preferred member and you will automatically receive the lowest price guarantee on your tips. The company specializes in something called DreamTrips - prepackaged vacation deals that are at wholesale prices for 4 and 5 star trips. Check them out. If you're interested in your own business, check out www.Wild2Travel.biz. Feel free to email or call if you have questions 206.288.3999 or Yvonne@Wild2Travel.com. In the meantime, here are some pictures to dream by....

Our snow adventure

Since we got our first snow last Friday, we've left the house twice for short trips into town.

Yesterday we decided to go into town, but by the time we pulled ourselves together it was too late, so we set our sights on today. We headed out about 11am, and got no further than about 20' from the garage.

After about 30 minutes of pushing and rocking our way down the driveway, we were stuck. And this is after Chris had cleared it yesterday.

So, Chris started up the tractor again, but found that the gearing was frozen. After consulting with the tractor guys in town, and letting it run for an hour, we was able to get it moving, and then he pulled the car back to the turn around area, re cleared the driveway and I drove the car into the garage.

I think we'll stay home today...

The heat is on!

Forgot to update you on the installation of the geothermal system. Chris made it a priority to have the heat on by the time I returned from Wasilla. We have been at a wonderful and comfortable 68` since last Friday. He said when the connected the thermostat the house was at 58`... no wonder I was cold!

My Wasilla trip

I wrote this to some friends earlier this week, thought I'd share it as a recap with you:

Thank you all for praying for me on this trip. I am still processing and trying to describe this trip - 3 times in the last 24 hours I have heard the chorus from "Say what you need to say" by John Mayer, that has served as an encouragement that I am on the right path, earlier this month I sensed the Lord saying that summer vacation was over, I hope that what we experienced this weekend is the answer to that "heads up".

I say "we" because I went to help Rob. He graciously offered to let me do some of my student teaching, my first time out on Thursday, the Vocal Cord Dysfunction that plagued me two years ago popped up. Rather than be a distraction, I think it created an empathy with the students. Rob took over when it was obvious that I'd reached the end of my voice, and five minutes later my voice was fine. One of the women came up to me and said that she had to tell me how brave I was, it totally brought me to tears, a place I was in most of the weekend. Another woman said she thought it was a spiritual attack, I agreed with her. That was the one and only time I had to deal with VCD. BTW - the Hebraic understanding of "And God said it was good" is better translated "And God looked around and saw that it was functional", He saw that it functioned as He designed it to be.

I stayed with the couple who coordinated the class Thursday and Friday evening. Friday morning I woke with a head cold. They prayed over me and prayed for me all day. The symptoms dried up most of the way but my right eye kept tearing up and I had a bit of sniffles, but nothing like what the morning promised.

There were 33 students in the class, they were hungry. They gave us grace and they showered us with love. Part of the 101 teaches about the dangers of "gold, glory, guys and girls". I totally understand the dangers of letting this go to your head, of taking on a "rock star" attitude.
We were surrounded by servants, we couldn't carry our bags or buy our lunch. I shake my head at it all. Humbling.

I wrote this to a friend earlier and I'll share it with you:
The people were so open, so hungry. I can't tell you who received more love, them from us or us from them. Rob said that it was an unusual 101, but he'd done the majority of the speaking and was fried so I didn't push for why. I'm still trying to process it all. After the class was over, we got to pray with everyone individually, speak words of destiny over them. It was amazing to read peoples mail, to say this is how you feel, but the Lord wants you to know how He sees you and this is a greater reality. One guy was in the Army, I knew that all weekend, but when I prayed for him, I asked him what position he held, he told me he was a Chaplains assistant. When Jeremiah was here last weekend, he told us that a Chaplin isn't allow to carry a weapon because of the Geneva convention. Because of that, there are Chaplin assistants who go everywhere with the Chaplin and protect him. I told him it was really cool, and that he carried a sniper rifle, he corrected me and told me what he carried, but then I realized that what I had understood was that he does carry a spiritual Sniper rifle, and all it's speciality gear, including a high powered scope and flashlight (Jeremiah had told us what a sniper carries). I began to draw for him the spiritual reality of him choosing to lay his life down to protect another that is dimly reflected in the natural, and as I spoke I could see the Holy Spirit witnessing to what I said. That was repeated with every single person. It was heady. Heady to be used like that, to be in that kind of an atmosphere, to see and feel the impact on the people. Heady to see that they had been changed by the head and spiritual knowledge they had received in class, but to see them called and stepping up to something more than they had believed about themselves, because of this impartation.

The family that hosted us served an amazing lunch Sunday after church, where the whole church came around us and prayed for us, for our families and for the work that "we've been called to do". For lunch we had King crab and halibut, not caught by them but caught by friends, as a side note, we snacked on bear summer sausage and had caribou patties and bratwurst for breakfast. But as amazing as that lunch was, the love that was freely showered on us was indescribable and added this special quality to everything. We have new family in Alaska, and I can't wait to visit them again. I was adopted by an Eskimo woman - I now have an Eskimo grandmother!

I was reminded again and in new ways that its all about building relationship. I was encouraged and challenged by Rob's stories. I got to take the 101 again, and was convicted in places I haven't pursued growth. My Admin skills were used as well as my retail experience, both came in handy - Rob's book table sold out. Steve and Steve made sure that there was nothing left, they made it a personal quest. The generosity of the people was stunning. And humbling.

On the plane home I wrote the following in my journal:
I received more than I gave.
I was adopted into families and inherited an Eskimo grandmother.
I received prophecy and unconditional love.
I was the recipient of broadcasting skills, the Fathers power, His love and a mothers milk.
I was reminded that I sit in the midst of the Holy Spirit and I draw my life and nutrition from Him, that I am my Fathers favored daughter, that I am brave and a mighty woman of God. That I will be mother to many.
I flowed in the anointing of God and was reminded how easy it is when it's not about you. I was ruined for a life of anything but this giving of the Lord impartation. I understood why people go to Burning man.