Sedona, Arizona

God is a God of truth, beauty, and goodness. An excellent place to see just a glimpse of these aspects of His character is in His creation. Mary, Caleb, Michelle and I stopped in Sedona on our way to BTC on Thursday and the beauty of the creation there is absolutely breath-taking. The redness of the rocks, the jaggedness of the cliffs, the towering walls of rock arranged into beautiful pillars... I am reminded of this hymn adapted by Stuart K. Hine: 

How Great Thou Art

"O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder 

Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made.

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Savior, God, to thee

How great thou art, how great thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Savior, God, to thee

How great thou art, how great thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,

When I look down from lofty mountains grandeur,

And hear the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Savior, God, to thee

How great thou art, how great thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Savior, God, to thee

How great thou art, how great thou art!"

*Last two verses excluded here... but totally worth looking up and reading (or singing)!!!*

I do wish that pictures could do justice to the reality of the beauty displayed in the earth, but they never can. Creation is a reflection of who God is in His beauty and creativity, and pictures are only a poor reflection of that reflection. But perhaps you may like to see some anyways... ;)

"O Lord, our Lord,

    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens." Psalm 8:1

"Out of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established strength because of your foes,

    to still the enemy and the avenger." Psalm 8:2

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
 what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?" Psalm 8:3-4

"Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

    and crowned him with glory and honor." Psalm 8:5

"You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under his feet,

all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,

the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

    whatever passes along the paths of the seas." Psalm 8:6-8

"O Lord, our Lord,

    how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

Psalm 8:9

Just a few more pictures for you to enjoy today... :)

We visited Slide Rock State Park before we arrived in Flagstaff, AZ. The river bed is rock and the flow of water over the years has cut away a "slide". It looks like a ton of fun, and many families were out enjoying the God-provided recreation. A little further up the river displayed more of God's beauty in His creation.

Spring and Summer Fashions

One of the advantages of being on the west coast is getting a glimpse of the up and coming fashions and trends. It is always interesting to see what *new* things will be marketed this season! So, without further ado let me inform you of a few trends that I have observed this spring. You can expect these fashions to be coming to your area soon!

Fashions!
Prepare yourselves for the comeback of the... overalls! These showed a slight upwards trend last summer, but most people just looked at them with surprise and amusement. Well, they are back this year and I have actually seen several people wearing them! Both pants and shorts versions are available. Dark denim and washed out denim are options. Fortunately I have not seen any acid washed overalls yet though! :) Another shocking comeback is the jumpsuit! I can just hear you now...

*gasp* "No!" 

But yes, they really are back. They are not only in the stores but I have seen them being worn frequently, even more often than overalls. They come in all sorts of patterns and lengths. I have seen full length jumpsuits (which remind me of clown suits really!) and then the short-sleeve/shorts version. The shorter version is definitely more popular. Another, more general trend this year is the vintage styles in clothing. This seems to include lighter weight shirts with some embroidery around the necklines and hems. Horizontal stripes and polka dots are some of the more popular patterns this year in fabric this year.

Another trend I have seen this year, although not a fashion clothing trend, is a car color. Many newer cars that I am seeing driven on the roads in the greater Seattle area are a deep brown... almost burgundy color. It is actually a very rich and luxurious color. It will be interesting to see if it catches on and is added to the common color swatch for cars.


Summer Plans
The school year is over and summer has begun. I did a little re-arranging in my classroom and have put a few ideas for next year on the back burner to simmer all summer long. But for now I am just ready to rest and relax after this school year. :)

My new library area in my classroom. This is what you see now looking in at the door. I'd like to make some pillows for the floor. :)

The Seattle area summer weather is absolutely glorious. It really makes me sad that I am going to miss it! I am thankful that I had the privilege of experiencing it for four or five weeks before heading out for the summer. My main goals this summer are to visit family and work on my "current reads" shelf.

I realized that I had too many books that I have not finished yet. So this summer I'm going to try and finish most of these books. :) We'll see how far I get!

My cousin Mary flew up to Seattle and spent a few days with me there. Then we flew together back to her new home in Arizona.

Enjoying Molly Moon's ice cream in Seattle with one of my favorite people. I'm so glad Mary came to visit me in Seattle!!!

We have enjoyed a couple of days together in the dry heat of Arizona already. :) I'm hoping to avoid a sunburn while I'm here! ;-) Mary and her husband Caleb have been quite consistent in pointing out the advantages of living in Arizona. I have an inkling that they are trying to get me to move here... ;-)

This weekend I will be attending the Building Tomorrow's Church Conference here in Arizona, then I will spend another week with Mary and Caleb before flying to Indiana. I am so looking forward to being with my family! It is the hardest thing in the world to be apart from those who you love most. There is peace in knowing that you are where God has you, but peace is not necessarily synonymous with easy. In fact I rather think that "peace" and "ease" are rarely found together. In mid-August I will head back to Washington. I am planning on visiting Victoria, B.C. with a couple of other teachers from the school. This is a "just for fun" trip that I have been wanting to take since I moved here. I've heard that Victoria is both gorgeous and a darling place to visit.

Then my summer will be nearly over. I'll have about a week to unpack, deal with my car a little bit more, get together with a few people, and acclimate myself back into the Seattle weather, traffic patterns, driving times, and prepare myself for the school schedule.

Teacher work week is the last week in August and school begins September 2nd. I'm looking forward to a beautiful and refreshing summer.