Sunday, September 30, 2012

Research

I haven't been blogging.  I haven't even been blog reading.
But, our life has still been going along really well, in spite of that.

Pretty much exactly a month ago, 
Scott & I got to go on a local getaway for our 8 year anniversary.
We are seriously grateful that we got to get out for a whole night & day.
It was sweet!
We went to the Dream Inn, which was super hip.
This was our morning view, off the balcony. 
No fog for us.  Evening or morning.



Our time was pretty much a research trip.  And super fun.
We researched each other & together.
Teachers in service day.  Is that what you call it?

I have also spent the last month being irritated & doing minimal research 
on this iphone photo issue.


We are hugging the elephant seal sculpture at Long Marine labs.
And, we took the photo on the iphone, in the vertical position. 
I uploaded it to my computer & it is on my computer in the vertical position.
I upload it onto blogger...  horizontal.
ARGH!  



I have given up.  
And I am postin them here to show you all that we are not smart enough for an iphone.

But, while at Long Marine, we studied up on all the ocean learning there, 
so we could bring our kids & teach them all we learned.  
We petted Swell Sharks, saw little baby ones wriggling around in their egg sacks,
watched quick moving Sunflower sea stars (they just keep growing more and more arms!).
These labs are small.  But, the signage is great & educational & 
the docents are very engaging as well.

{We brought them out 2 weeks later, 
after they were daily asking us when they could go and pet the sharks, too.}




sorry about the flash & the strong reflection.  hard to see, but this is the shark petting tank.


Back to our teacher's research day...
We took a birding walk, hunting for Black-Chinned Hummingbirds.
When we finally gave up on seeing the elusive hummingbird,
we did spot two hummingbirds above us.
But, they moved on too quickly for us to see what they looked like.
It was exciting nonetheless.  I had never thought I would go birding, prior to turning 65.
Now I have.  And, I liked it.  Mostly because of my birding partner.

We ended our outing with the Santa Cruz Food Tour.
People, this was SO fun.
I love good food.  And I like walks.
So, a walking food tour of downtown sounded great to me.
But, once the tour was underway we learned it was much more than that.
We got a really fun history lesson of the city.
We learned about the handsome Victorian homes of the 1800's;
about their builders & the home owners.
We learned about Mission Santa Cruz,
and visited the only original structure still standing.
We learned about the railway that came to downtown
(and how they had to stop outside of the downtown area
and hitch the train to a team of horses,
to take it all the way to the coast without disturbing the residents & merchants.)
Our tour guide was great.  And now we love Santa Cruz more.
We highly recommend this tour to locals and to visitors.

Exploring together was a blast.  We are grateful!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

ten on ten {September 2012}

A picture of something beautiful, ten times throughout our day on the tenth of September.

searching for mosquito fish, first thing in the morning

Sisters who love books

Art time

Smoothie finished
  
Water flowers have bloomed.  They weren't there first thing this morning.

Egg Vending Machine & Chicken Dance show at Glaum

Tea time & watching National Geographic - Search for the Jaguar

My favorite glass sits among dirty dishes that didn't get washed.

Quality Check on Journey Bags for foster kids in our county.

Getting dinner onto the table.



 Joining Rebekah @ Bit of Sunshine for her Ten on Ten Photo project...
ten on ten button


Tuesday, September 4, 2012

I love my work

If marriage is hard work, then I love working hard.
Today Scott & I have been married 8 years.
What a gift this work is.  I am so grateful!



When I hear someone talk about, in an exhausted tone, 
what hard work marriage is, I feel a bit bummed.
It can be accurate to say that marriage is hard work.
It is not a hobby.  It requires effort.
Marriage changes what you are.
And it does take work.



But marriage needs more public praise & celebration.
I want ya'll to know, that this is work I love.
It is easy working hard to love my husband.
He works hard to make it easy.
This is a sweet job.  It just keeps getting better.
I'm glad to stay in this work for the rest of our days.
This work makes me smile.

This song, Sharpened in Time, makes me say, "Yes!  That is it!"

Being your bride has let me see 
That I
ll teach you and youll teach me
In this life, Oh, I
m your iron
Sharpened in time
It
s so good to be with you

Cause we’ve got an easy kind of love

The kind that makes you say 
At the end of the day
It’s more than I deserve
It kinda makes you cry 
When you look back on your life and think
Oh, God is good, more than I deserve…


Not that it’s never been work, you see

But in this life some things will be
Worth the effort
You’re worth the effort