Monday, August 25, 2008

The Fiesta...Through My Eyes

Thursday 4:30 am: Did my alarm clock really go off? I never even went to sleep...the excitement for the weekend sent waves of energy rushing through my body...to sleep would bring a sort of forgetfulness of tomorrows surge of living this life of bloggeramma...and that just couldn't happen...maybe it was that coffee I drank before bed...I totally blame Holly for that. :) I was up and in the shower and packing the remainder of my things for the San Antonio Siesta Fiesta. I went into Holly's room to wake her up (as promised in case the travel alarm didn't work) and I wish I had a camera 'cause she was all but hugging the snooze button on the alarm clock...I think I even heard a faint song ...ohhhh sweeet snoooozzzeee buttooooonnnnn...coming from her! HOW CAN YOU SNOOZE AT A TIME LIKE THIS!!!! haa haa haa So, we made our way to the airport by way of IHOP (the pancake house...not to be confused with IHOP the prayer house). After a couple hours of loud, obnoxious, flatulent, but sometimes funny children sitting behind me, my turbulent (due to seat kicking) flight ended and I arrived in San Antonio.


So, I got to my room and walked across the hall to converse with Holly and Joanne, and while we were talking, Kimberly walked in with her sweet daughter Grace, later we heard screams, so I poked my head out and there was Stephanie and others hugging and crying and screaming, then more hugging and crying and screaming...soon the hallway was full and those poor men on the same floor had it cut out for them. lol Here's a first glance of the hallway meeting...which grew rapidly.

It was funny 'cause everyone was calling each other by their blog names. Then Cheryl (The Prof) came out with her Miesta and met us all...she is such an awesome person!






They all left and went on the boat tour of the River Walk, and I went elsewhere, but I made it to the last boat tour of the day...it was awesome at night.

The River Walk was beautiful, so the next morning I went out and took some more pictures.















While I was out walking I met Brooke (Mail Girl) Geo Cashing, so she taught me all about it and took me hunting with her. It was probably the highlight of my trip because I am not big on socializing, meeting, greeting, and making friends and such, so I really enjoyed my first friend making experience.
I couldn't believe how humid it was...holy smokes...and Denver summer clothes just don't cut it; so, I went shopping. I really hate shopping, so I'm glad I found something fast...and on sale. ;)


On to lunch time.
We all hopped the bus and went to ...beats me...we ate at so many Mexican food places, all their names run together. There were a ton of us and the waiters were awesome to put up with us all. Here are some pics from that.

This is some of us waiting for the bus to take us to the restaurant.















This is us at the restaurant...poor waiter guy...at one point he had to tell everyone to sit down 'cause so many people were all over the place.




The conference was great as Beth Moore conferences generally are. She taught on being an heir of God. The energy amongst our group was just unbelievable...I enjoyed it.

Here's a small video of us siesta's waiting to get in:




I sat next to Donna (and I have a horrible pic of me with her), so I won't post it...I was hot, red, not an ounce of makeup left on me and topped it off with a cheezy smile...she is awesome though...I had a great time talking to her.


Finally, our session with the Moore girls was so much fun...Melissa just cracked me up more than anything.











This is Kathy and Jackie Sue they were awesome ladies!


















This trip was such an unbelievable time of getting to know people who have just been pictures and words to me. How crazy it seems to some people to do this sort of thing, but it actually makes me think of the day we will meet Christ face to face. He's not just words on a page, but he is life to us. One of these days, we will meet Him and suddenly we will realize He is more than what I read or believed...He is my life...ahem...my inheritance...as I am His. While I had such divine appointments this weekend and enjoyed everyone that makes blogging worthwhile; I still can't wait to meet the one that makes life worth it all.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Potpourri

Ok, so I have lots to say...I'll get the awkward stuff out of the way first.
I received my long awaited job end date. My last day at work will be August 20. Whew, right around the corner. I can't define my emotions 'cause they are all over the place...one moment I'm excited, one moment I'm sad, one moment I'm anxiety ridden, and one moment I'm relieved to finally have a date. I'm the last of my group to go (they're keeping me a few days past conversion in case anything unexpected happens). Can't say what I will do either. I've had multiple requests for me to attend company overviews for financial advisor positions, but I'm not sure I want to go back into investments. My heart says one thing, my parents are saying another thing (eww Fed's *shiver* *shiver* *shiver*), but I hope to pursue what is on my heart...at least until my checkbook screams another. I guess I just have to sit back and listen and wait. The company I work for always provided a 30 day sabbatical on each employee's 10 year anniversary...I planned to go to London. Well, I've been there 10 years, and since the company divestiture, my sabbatical never happened; however, I'm going to London anyway. Paris is in the works...there is a ministry there that works with teens through art and I would love to help out. Anyway, I will miss work...here's some of the things I'll miss:






Allow me to explain: We had a mickey mouse (he even had the real Mickey plastered all over his office with a stuffed Mickey staring you in the face during meetings...creepy) of a supervisor come in and since he always wanted to know when people were at lunch, we all had to put up lunch signs (which we all gladly posted 100% of the time). We were a quirky group, and somewhat obedient. Anyway, the last picture is a team effort tack art (this was the friendliest of them). We all got bored at the scanner because it was soooo slow, so we took advantage of our down time...I loved this one especially because our temp Joe (aka cupcake-his staple food) bent up a paperclip for smoke coming out of the chimney...clever kid. So...that is what I'll miss.

On to what I've been up to lately:

In June I went on a women's retreat. There is a place in Colorado Springs called The Hideaway...oh it is sooo awesome! It's just that...hidden away in a bit of forest mountain area. It's so much fun. Well, as retreats go...oh wait, let me rephrase that...as retreats typically are when I am invited, this one was entertaining. I created a couple aliens out of handiwrap and aluminum foil and placed on of them in the retreat leaders bed...hee hee...it was the size of an 8 yr old.




The other alien was doing his thing on the throne when they found him.




It was the best...I watched Neddra walk into her room...heading to the balcony, do a quick shudder of fear, grab her heart and say VERY LOUDLY "stupid Kathryn." To that I (and a few others) all but fell out on the floor laughing. My punishment:



I was dismissed! I cried "why ya gotta lock a sister out" to no avail. I was banned; however, the intruding aliens got special attention...even their very own names! I just don't get it.


















July is my birthday month, and my ski bud's birthday is just a few days before me, so we headed up to the cabin together up by Gunnison with her son and a friend of his. My folks have a resort package at Blue Mesa that I get perks from, so every so often I enjoy the free cabin. It was such a beautiful drive. I wish my camera could have caught the true splendor of it all, but here are a couple of my favorite views:

I suppose I could tell you it was raining, but I wont...those are bugs on my windsheild....lol...but if you look past that you can see snow (in July) up by Monarch Pass.




This one (below) was one of my fav's...that white stuff is not snow though...it's clouds hovering over the little valleys. It was so much more awesome than this picture.


We went to Lake City one day...I love the drive there too! I was a bit overly excited about the beauty of everything...it's so hard to clap and cheer God on when one is driving, so Cindy asked to take over...lol. I don't know...she said something about safety and such...lol.

So, while she was driving:



I got to see:















I just screamed "stop...stop." hee hee hee. Isn't it beautiful!

Last but not least, last Sunday was Bab's 1st birthday. So we went to the zoo:

Here's granny and Bab's looking at the fish. They were about the only thing...well, other than the rather large kitties she saw, that she really enjoyed.










She also started walking:



Did I mention she also adores her Great Auntie. Her mom says it's because she can get away with stuff with me, but I just think there's no reason at all for her to be unhappy, so we have a mutual agreement. ;) Besides...great niece, great auntie...maybe there's just too much greatness for one room to contain. ;-) Yeah, that's it!!!!