Rain, Rain, Go Away!

We have had a deluge this past week! SO much rain! And if it is not raining, it is still overcast outside and looks like it will. I'm sure it is helping to make everything green and growing, so I probably shouldn't complain too much. But I miss the sun. I am a sun - person. I suppose I inherit that naturally from my Mom who is practically a lizzard and could comfortably bask in the sun on a hundred-degree day! I'm not quite there, but I do love the sun. It makes me happy. So I am excited this morning b/c there is a glimmer of sun peeking out and it may be a lovely day.

Bill is working today, which is always a bummer. Half of the fun of having a weekend is spending it together. Thankfully, this is not the norm, but I still wish he were here right now. It will give me some time to myself, though and I will try to get done some of the things that are harder to do when he is around. I have been meaning to plant tomatoes for weeks now, so that is one thing I can work on. I am hoping to have three different kinds this summer.

Bill was able to go to a church-planting conference this past Thursday, and he came back so excited about it. He said the speakers were great, and it is something he is really interested in possibly doing. I love it when he talks about things relating to our future plans :) Please pray with us as we seek the Lord's will on what He wants us to do and where He wants us to go. We are praying the He will give us a real passion for a specific calling.

As we move into the Easter week, I want to spend time meditating on the depth and richness of what the resurrection means in my life. Hope you do too :)

Getting a Little "Ride" in Sausalito

I Know Paris is the City of Love, But if You are With the Right Fella....

In the Wine Caves

This winery was called Benziger. The tour was great, and the especially neat thing about it is that it is an all-natural, organic winery. An example of this is the wine caves, which are built right into the sides of hills, and stay cool naturally.

In Front of the Golden Gate Bridge

Bill at the Helm of the Balclutha

The Balclutha was an old Windjammer Ship that sailed from England all over the world, collecting spices, etc. She was later bought and sailed from San Francisco to Alaska to carry Salmon. Such a romantic ship - and what a handsome captain! :)

Touring SF in a Double-Decker Bus

Me in Front of the Jellyfish at Monerey Bay Aquarium

Sunset at the Beach in Carmel

I Left My Heart In San Francisco

And what a lovely city it is! Bill and I had a great Spring Break in San Francisco and the surrounding area. It was our first big vacation since our honeymoon, and we loved it. We spent the first two nights near Monterey Bay, and Carmel. The beaches there were gorgeous and the scenery breathtaking! Everything was so green and flowers and fruit were blooming. Our favorite event was driving the 17 Mile Scenic Tour, in which we drove along the rocky coast, saw Pebble Beach, etc. That is some of the prettiest country I have ever seen! We walked along in the sunshine and I picked up shells. We even saw a large group of fat harbor seals sleeping on the beach! Carmel was my favorite city. It was so quaint and picturesque; I tried to talk Bill into buying one of the seaside cottages, but he said we couldn't yet :) After that, we drove to San Francisco, where we spent the rest of the trip with the Luciano's. They are graduating soon and moving to NYC, so it was nice to get to have "one last fling" with them. We saw Alcatraz, the Muir woods, drove down Lombard - the crookedest street in the world -, visited the Wharf, and walked all over that hilly city. It is a beautiful city; I love that it is so outdoorsy. We spent one day visiting Napa Valley and Sonoma Wine Country, which is another lovely area. We toured some wineries and did some wine-tasting; we are now wine - connisuers :) Ok, not really, but it was fun! Our last day we visited a quaint city across the bay from San Francisco called Sausalito. It is lovely how the mountains stretch right to the ocean, and the houses are built right onto the sides of the hills. It had such a laid-back atmosphere, and Bill and I actually took a nap right in the park square of the city. I asked Bill if we could buy one of those cottages, and again he said that we couldn't. But I haven't given up hope :) We both did say that it was somewhere that we could see ourselves living one day - we really liked that area. One of the biggest blessings was the weather; seriously, I felt like that was just an extra gift from the Lord. It was unseasonally warm and sunshiney that whole week, and the day we left it became cloudy and cooler, and I kind of think the Lord just gave us that lovley weather to enjoy. Every good and perfect thing....

It was a little hard to come back to work and the normal routine after that, but we have adjusted back slowly. I do like our time here in Dallas, but going somewhere else made me look forward to the time when Bill graduates and we move on to a new adventure in a new setting. It was a good vacation, though, and we are thankful that we had the opportunity to get away. It was a good time for us to reconnect and just enjoy being together all the time. I've included many pics from our trip, so enjoy!