Lake Juniper

We spent the 4th of July week/weekend camping at Lake Juniper in Lassen Park with the Malden Family.  Justin and his family have camped at this lake since he was a little kid, but it was the first time for all the in-laws and grandkids.  The lake is amazing.  It is spring fed from holes in the bottom of the lake, so the water is crystal clear till about 30 feet deep.  After that is is the most beautiful blue/green color--it reminded me of the color of the Caribbean.  Also, there are no fish!  I guess there's not enough gunk for them to feed off of and no areas for spawning, so they can't survive.  Can't complain about a big, beautiful lake to swim in that is entirely fish-free!  (I must mention, however, that I did not swim because it was too cold!!)  It was the perfect temperature for hiking and canoeing, of which we did both.  Unfortunately there were no fireworks, but considering all the fire fiasco it was probably for the best.  We had a great time and hope that the family tradition of camping trips to Lake Juniper continue for years to come.  

Smoke, smoke go away; come again...NEVER!

It's true that absence makes the heart grow fonder.  My heart has never been more fond of having clean air to breathe than during the past week and a half when it has been absent from my life.  I can't wait to see the sky when I wake up, drive with my windows rolled down, and go for walks in the park again.  In the pictures it looks like it could be a cold, foggy day calling for a good book and a warm fire.  But it's not.  It's hot, humid, and smokey.  Try burning something in the oven and letting the charred aroma fill your house to get a fuller effect of what the pictures encompass.  

How Bizarre

We were over at Justin's parents' the other day when I noticed this out on the deck:

A squirrel relaxing?  I thought it the strangest thing I'd ever seen!  I also got some shots of our cute nieces and nephew(s)-(Only one nephew is shown.  All my pictures of the other little guy turned out blurry...argh).  We've enjoyed getting to watch them grow up a little while living close by and will miss them so much when we move.

Nunchucks

If you and/or your siblings grew up in the late 80's/early 90's you are most definitely familiar with the legendary Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  This was the case in my family.  We all knew (and probably still know) the lyrics to the theme song, each turtles' name and their corresponding eye mask color, and of course all of the characters' weapons of choice.  While I can claim immense familiarity with show, my brother Casey was truly a diehard fan.  He had ninja turtle pajamas, a ninja turtle sleeping bag, a turtle mask, action figures, the list could go on.  I'm pretty sure he was a ninja turtle for Halloween at least three years in a row.  His favorite turtle was the comedian of the group, Michelangelo.  Michelangelo wore the orange mask and was an expert with nunchucks.  Anything Casey could possible construct into a set of nunchucks, he did.   One family memory consists of my mom walking into the bathroom to find Casey thrilled by his discovery of an entire box of "nunchucks" (aka Tampons) stashed under the bathroom sink.  So anyway, today while yard sale-ing I came across these:

Since Casey happens to be celebrating a birthday this next week I thought they'd be the perfect gift.  Happy Birthday, Case!  COWABUNGA!   

Ring of Fire

The late Johnny Cash once sang, "I fell into a burning ring of fire.  I went down, down, down and the flames went higher.  And it burns, burns, burns the ring of fire, the ring of fire."  I have had this song running through my mind for the past couple of days.  However, while Johnny's ring of fire referred to love and wild desire, my ring of fire thoughts were provoked by an actual fire, formally "The Humboldt Fire." 

Some of you may have already heard about this fire, but we experienced it.  It was quite intense and immediately straightened out the priorities in my life.  I wouldn't classify myself as the most materialistic person in the world, but I certainly came away from this experience with a lesson learned on "not setting ones heart on the vain things of the world."  I own a few items that when I saw them in the store I just "had to have them," but amazingly those things became completely petty when given only minutes to grab important belongings and evacuate from our home.  Here's our story in a prolonged nutshell:

On Wednesday Justin was working up Honeyrun Road doing some planting.  After a few hours the man of the house arrived home from work and announced that a fire had broken out in the canyon and was moving fast.  Not being a stranger to fires in that area, the man went in to fire-mode and enlisted Justin's help.  They wetted down the sides of the house, and then positioned every hose the man had around the house, ready to use against flames if necessary.  They bulldozed weeds and brush, clearing them as far from the house as possible.  As they were working firemen approached the house to escort evacuees from the area.  Justin and the man hid in the barn till they left with the man's wife in tow, and then they continued working.  The smoke above their heads grew thicker and blacker until suddenly they saw all the trees at the top of the ridge burst into flames.  The fire began descending in the direction of the house.  It was at this time Justin decided to inform the man, "Uh, my rates just went up."  Thanks to some shifts in the wind and amazing firefighters, the house fell out of harm's way and Justin made it home safely with a hefty tip in his pocket (Not enough of a tip according to me, considering his life was at risk, but to him he got paid AND got to fight a fire--what could be better?!).  

The next morning the fire was still burning, but was not tremendously threatening.  Both Justin and I headed down to Chico for the day.  By mid-afternoon Justin heard a precautionary evacuation issued for our neighborhood on the radio.  He called me to let me know we should head up the hill.  By the time he picked me up the evacuation noticed had been changed to an immediate threat evacuation (aka "Get out NOW") for us and 26,000 other Paradise residents.  As we drove I started to write down a list of things for us to grab when we got to the house, knowing our time would be limited.  Two of the four roads up to Paradise were closed and the other two were crawling with hundreds of cars, everyone trying to get to their homes to grab belongings.  As we waited in one of these long lines we recognized that our time to grab things was growing shorter by the minute so we  started to prioritize our already condensed list to include only extremely important/irreplaceable items.  During this time a person came down the opposite side of the road announcing that Paradise had just been closed to all incoming traffic.  We immediately called Justin's parents to see if they could make it to the house and get our dog, car, etc.  They were already there.  We read them our list, hung up the phone, turned our car around, and hoped for the best as we watched the smoke move in the direction of "Our First House." 

We stayed at my mom's house, glued to the news all night.  Unfortunately the wind was terrible and it made the fire spread quickly and unpredictably.  Firefighters were brought in from San Diego, Arizona, Nevada, and everywhere in between.  At one point the reporter announced, "[Our neighborhood] is not expected to be there in the morning."  We were shocked, but stayed surprisingly calm through the whole thing.  I think it was at this time that I was relearning where my priorities really are.  All of my loved ones were safe, and that was most important.  

The end of the story is that the once beautiful outskirts of our little town are now completely charred, but our house is still standing.  Stats of the fire at this time include:

Acres burned: 23,344

Homes destroyed: 74

Homes damaged: 20

Percent contained: 90, full containment expected today

Cost to fight the blaze: 11.5 million dollars

Firefighters and personnel:  3,826

We are so grateful for the family we have close by, especially for Monty and Denise who retrieved Teva, our car, and other keepsakes (they even grabbed some clothes for us!), and that everyone is safe.  Our hearts go out to all of the people who lost their homes, including the Davises and the Sterlings, two families from our church.  Lastly, we give a great, big SHOUT OUT to all of the firefighters who fought for our town and our home.  Thank You!!  

(The picture above is the sign we made and taped to the back of the truck before we drove up to Paradise after the evacuation was lifted.  Signs with similar messages are now displayed all over the town.  It's amazing to see how tragedy can bring such unity to a community.  To view additional photos from the fire click here.)

  

Our First House

Okay, so it's really not our house, but officially being able to announce "our first house" is so far in the distant future that I'm grasping for any semblance to the real deal I can get.  While it is not ours, it is the first house we've ever lived in: duplex, condo, garage, and now house!  Our move to an itty-bitty apartment in England probably would have been a smoother transition had we skipped the house and gone straight from garage to itty-bitty apartment, but oh well.

My in-laws inherited the house and have been doing some major renovations over the past few months.  They worked hard to get it livable enough for us to move in, including complete remodels of both bathrooms (there are 2!  that's a first for us too!).  There is still much to be done however, so we have our summer projects all lined up.  My awareness of how ghetto parts of the house still appear was heightened at church on Sunday.  I met a cute little old lady and discovered that she lives on our block.  Our conversation went something like this:

Cute Little Old Lady - You live right around the corner from me.

Me - We do?  Well,  be sure to let us know if there is ever anything we can do for you.

C.L.O.L. - It looks to me like you are the ones in need of the help!

Me - (a bit taken aback) Yeah, we do have our work laid out for us, don't we? 

In my efforts to be friendly, courteous, and respectful of the elderly I was hit hard and fast with an insult to my ghetto looking house.  But alas, in her old wisdom she hit the nail right on the head.  There is definitely work to be done, but it's super fun envisioning what the end product will be.  The house is bursting with potential and has several old-fashioned features that I find absolutely charming.  So, it may be slightly ghetto and it may not be ours, but we love it.   

 

       Two of the charmers: a darling playhouse in the backyard (currently infested with spiders of every kind making it not a fun place to play, but still fun to look at); and a beautiful Hydrangea.  I love opening the blinds to these brilliant blue flowers every day.

Project #1: Painting the dining room    

Holla'!

According to the California Commission of Teacher Credentialing I am officially a TEACHER! It's been an incredibly intense 1.5 years, earning two credentials in 10 months' time (a heavy load of pre-req's filled the other 8 months). To top it off I participated in the self-proclaimed 2nd most demanding church obligation in existence: Early Morning Seminary--of course the role of Prophet for a world wide church organization consisting of millions of members takes the #1 slot of most demanding, I won't argue against that one. Looking back I honestly can't believe I made it through; in addition to survival I feel that I've come out with a stronger testimony, a stronger marriage, and more insight to my potential and purpose here on the earth. While I'm on this roll I guess I'll claim bragging rights to a 3.96 cumulative GPA as well (an A- slipped in there somewhere). I attribute all success to amazing professors and students, my wonderful family, Divine intervention, and my incredibly supportive and loving husband who, as Marjorie Hinckley would say, has truly "given me wings and let me fly." I couldn't ask for more. (Pictures are from the credentialing ceremony.)