Great Day!

Today we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific and a 3.5 hour whale watching cruise! What fun that we were able to do this. The aquarium was just right and the girls enjoyed touching moon jellyfish, stingrays, and bamboo sharks. We also saw many other types of fishes, jellyfishes, and sharks. I learned that jellyfish haven't got a brain, like the scarecrow, and mainly have 4 stomachs (one for each tentacle), take 3 years to mature into what we see as jellyfish, and seem to operate instinctually as they swim together.

After our morning being at the aquarium, we grabbed our bags of lunch and snack and headed to the gathering area for our whale boat. There were enough people to share the adventure, but not too many to feel crowded. Everyone had an amazing time out at sea; we saw 2 blue whales, a few pods of dolphins, 2 sea lions, a sunfish, and a sea turtle! I learned that dolphins will stay together for their whole lives if they can. The sky was clear, the ocean beautiful, and the creatures abounding!

Poseidon!

I am convinced Jay is really Poseidon ;o)

Beach Day!

Went to the beach today and met up with the West Fam. It was a beautiful, sunny day here in HB! We had a blast and time just slipped away as it usually does when we are hanging out, especially at the beach. One of the highlights is that there were a couple of dolphins playing and jumping right in front of where we were gathered this afternoon. Another was how Nina and Anna played so nicely together; they really seemed to get along great!

After the beach we went up to In-N-Out for some dinner and it was slammed! Great that we can get food we can all eat at one place without a hassle and for fairly inexpensive. They've got protein style where the actually wrap your burger in lettuce and all of it is whole foods!! Radness!

Side note-we have taken to calling Jay Poseidon!

Prayer in my Heart

My heart first learned to pray as a small child, with the winds and sounds of the earth, coupled with the fullness of the Orthodox faith to found solid grounding. In the whispers in the air, a comfort and calm of quiet devotion and eminence would consume my senses. There, I have known peace and reverence.

As I have grown, the earth still speaks God's plenty and His church flows with beauty and prayer. It is in Slavonic, I began to rediscover the language of my heart, that God's presence is where we find faith, prayer, and love, not simply in words alone. I am overjoyed to breathlessness and humility, when I hear Milost Mira in such a way as to speak more to my heart than to my ears.

In the darkest of times, I have only to return to the familiarity of this simplicity, though I oftentimes forget and I walk in sadness and cold, until reclaim the constant provisions so easily overlooked. Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth-Peace, Goodwill toward men.

Now

It is as though I have everything and nothing to write about. Life is swiftly moving these days, between our newest addition, Nina Mae, an adoptive daughter, coming into our lives, integration therein, firmer scheduling and the height of the season in farming upon us, not to mention Jay's 40th birthday party I am planning! You can imagine all the sorts of madness and mayhem we are intermingled in right now.

So, this little girl, you may ask. Well, she is 22 months and full of GO! She may sleep a lot, but draws on all of our energy while she is awake. I forgot how much energy they use up and end up sleeping! Now that Kat is nearly 10, I marvel if she is in bed before 9, whereas Minnie Mae, as I call her (since she is the mini sis), wakes, eats, plays, sleeps, eats, plays, sleeps again, and then we do it again! Her total awake hours are so many fewer than Sissy Kat's, but far more intense, to be sure! What a bunch of fun and sweetness, but OH! these tired parents! ;)

Kat is enjoying her life as Sissy, but she is still getting used to not being the loudest voice and need in the house. From realizing that she may not have needed us that much before, but we were nearly always available, to understanding that toddlers have no idea of what waiting actually is and how that effects her is something altogether interesting to watch. She is a trooper, they both are!

The routine is helping us all, but we have yet to shift into gear where we go to bed at a reasonable time and get up earlier! Minnie is in bed between 7:30/8, on average, sometimes asleep by then and with it staying light so late, the chickens won't go to bed until around 9 and Kat has to put them to bed, because she is their mother and it means so very much to her, so we oblige. By the time she is ready for bed, it can be as late as 9:30 or later, depending on animal mayhem or stories being told, etc. and now the heat that has descended makes falling asleep more of a challenge for her. Jay and I stay up later to see one another for more than one minute in a row, without interruption, but before we know it, we are up way later than we hoped and morning comes all too soon!!

I am alone with my thought far less often, which is not a terrible thing, but sometimes it is nice to know what I think about any one particular thing, however that is not always a good idea, I am sure. Better that I am preoccupied by other things that fill my thoughts than to have them creep in and sabotage reality, I suspect. That being said, it is nice to have time to write down the happenings of life as it is these days, however few and far between they might be.

Struggle and triumph, a life full of intertwining of all things great and small; this is our now.

From The Presses

In a zealous fit, the work of putting the 'old man' away, to be kept in darkness, comes without much effort. Keeping him bound and behind bars, with his insolence and deceit, self-love and putrid ways, is the work of momentary struggles that span a lifetime. Each day it is asked to take up this Cross, each moment and in every interaction. How often do we pass the opportunity by that offers us the reality that is Christ? In every thought and action, do we crucify ourselves alongside Christ, or do we ask of Him to let us off the Cross, to prove to us He is God incarnate all for our selfishness? What is more, it appears that the closer we draw to Him, the stronger the temptation to wish this cup to pass from us.

Such grayness is woven into our beings, as we look with clouded eyes to discern the correct path we ought to take. There is little black from white, as we sit as judge and jury as to whether a person is worthy of our mercy and kindness, the very same that is shown us from Him in our hour of need and darkest times. The only Light that shines through all storms, our Beacon and harbor, refuge and solace, Whose Creation is renewed when we reject the old man's ways.

It would seem simple, but whoever has fought any fight, knows that there are times when we would all like to just have it overwith, no matter the cost.

This was written at the onset of Holy Week, nearly a month ago, and it was so heavy within me then. I reread it now to revisit what did not get shared because I thought it not to be complete, but I notice it is enough to share and a worthy reminder to myself that every day is a choice as to whether we are crucified with Christ or we betray Him for the price of earthly wealth.

Unfinished Ramblings

I cannot feel the cold against my skin
While fire consumes my every sense
The quiet is gone from my head
Only chaos and chattering prevail
Complacency fills the insatiable void
As darkness settles on the horizon
The night brings sleepless dreams
Day ushers endlessness and longing
O, fickle and hardened heart
Haunt me no more
Rid yourself of me
Who is tormented and weak-willed
Deceit and illusion has crept in
Walling itself in my fibers
Tugging at every thought
I am so easily beaten about
By the storms of this life
Malleable and troubled
But happily so fallen and distraught