SoCal

I'm down here in SoCal...doin' stuff...

It has been nice so far. The weather is kinda hot, but it's hot in NorCal, too.

Today I had an interview, and I can be a substitute teacher! Crazy! I also applied for a full-time English position. We shall see how that one turns out.

I've had a good time hanging with friends and enjoying the hospitality of Jenni, Mandy, Michelle, and Michelle (though Jenni, Michelle, and Michelle aren't really here right now...).

This post is kinda boring because I'm not thinking about blog posts. I'm really thinking about washing the chlorine out of my very frizzy hair.

So you all have a great week, readers! Time to restore the hair to normal...

Blank

For once, I don't know what to blog about. So maybe I'll just make a list of things that have been happening.

Job. Waiting to hear back from a district in SoCal begging me to come for an interview because the hiring personnel is so impressed with my application and résumé that they want to hire me right away, but that is not fair to other applicants, so they must interview me

first. (How's that for a run-on?!) Or at least that's what I'm hoping they would say...I'm really just waiting for an offer for an interview to substitute teach. I hope it comes soon.

Car. I now have a manual (his name is Manuel). I am rather proud of myself when I go the whole day without stalling it. I'm getting better, though!!!

Car. I am trying to sell the automatic. Please sell! I need to pay Mom and Dad back, and I want to go to SoCal for Luke and Danielle's wedding!

Kids. The little kids Lucas Lee, Alexis Nikole, and Giovanni Vann were adopted on July 9, 2009 at the courthouse in Nevada City!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are Byers forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No worries about leaving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are all very excited about it! We are going to have an adoption party on Sunday. :)

2 grandparents, 2 parents, 7 siblings, and 3 sisters-in-law. I am truly blessed. (I do have more family and grandparents, fyi.)

Books. My goal is to read ten books this summer. Not a very high goal, but I got kinda burnt out after about the third or fourth week. I want to finish 1984 by George Orwell, Living the Cross-Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney, and Is God Really in Control? by Jerry Bridges. I know, that is only three. I might read Animal Farm by George Orwell or The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne or The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck...or some other book I have. I suppose I should get through the first three first, though...Or maybe I'll read one of my new travel books...hmmmmmmm....

Fruit. This is random, I know, but I decided to list my favorite fruit: Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, mangos, cantaloupe, and peaches. Mmmmm-mmm-mmmm...

Picture. I like pictures. Here is one:

"The Originals" on the day before Garret's wedding:

Garret, me, Scott, Ross...in reverse age order. ;)

Two

Wow, I haven't written in a week! Sorry folks. Every time I would consider posting I would think, "No, you just posted!" Well, maybe that was true last Monday, but it wasn't true by the end of the week! Oh well. ;)

Here is a quote from D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. I found it on Pastor Todd's site a while ago.

“The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: ‘Why art thou cast down’ - what business have you to be disquieted? You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Hope thou in God’ - instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do. Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: ‘I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God.’"

Here is another quote from the guest speaker in church today, Amir Tsarfati (an Israeli national!).

"Jesus told the disciples that in the end there will be wars and rumors of wars [Mt. 24:6; Mk. 13:7]. This is not good. But it is called the Good News."

What goes around...

comes around.

Haha, here is a post on Jenica's blog about Jennica.

I say, there's no way I'm cooler than you, Jenica. You've actually gone out there and taught overseas. It's going to take me a while. ;)

And I love this quote from a past post of Jenica's:

"Yet something is missing. There's an ongoing search, and no amount of comparison of here and there will really answer the questions. Perhaps some of us were not meant to be part of a place. Perhaps I am one of those." (on having a sense of place)

Lynx...errrr, Links!

On a more serious note than late-night adventures involving centipedes, here are two links that I think are really important to read.

They were brought to my attention by reading Todd Bolen's blog (former IBEX professor, who is coming to visit SoCal with his family soon!).

The link on Todd's blog is about the devastating effects of adultery. (by Randy Alcorn)

The link in the link on Todd's blog is about the considerations of viewing promiscuity in film. (by John Piper)

Read 'em. Consider 'em. Vow that with God's help, you will never become part of the sad statistics.

Creepy Crawlies

Yes, readers, that is a centipede...and yes, that is my Nalgene for perspective. It seems like, since I came home about 5 weeks ago, every spider and bug has come out to greet me.

Now I know that my bumper sticker says that I am a spider killer. This is true. I guess this is just case-in-point that spiders 1) can't read or 2) don't understand warnings.

I can't count how many spiders, bugs, and flies I have killed since I came home. This is not to say that my house is dirty or anything. But it is summertime. These bugs decide that they want the A/C, too, or that they want to go on vacation, or something, so they come on in!

And I am ready for them.

I just wish they would go away.

Any way, about the centipede. I was on facebook, talking to a friend, when I heard a scratching sound. I looked down to see the end of a 3-inch long centipede disappear under the keyboard!

--HOLD ON!!!!!!! 3 INCH LONG CENTIPEDE JUST CRAWLED ACROSS THE DESK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!--

Thus began the assault on the unsuspecting creature. Pretty soon the thing crawled out from under the keyboard and and proceeded to hide under the computer modem. I considered calling the customer assistance number on the computer but wasn't sure that it would be helpful.

I tried to kind of slide the annoyance out from under the modem with a piece of paper, but he wouldn't cooperate. So I ran down the hallway to get my camera and my Nalgene for perspective. I managed to get the insect to come out from under the computer. I snapped a picture then retrieved the trash can from the bathroom and attempted to push the offending party off the desk with some TP.

He wouldn't have it.

He held on to the desk and the TP with his little legs as he bent over backwards from the edge of the desk, struggling not to get canned.

Gravity took its toll, and the villain fell. I made sure he was actually in the trash and hadn't escaped onto the floor again, and then promptly flushed him.

I have no idea how the miniature monster got into the house and up onto the desk without me seeing him. After all, he was huge!
Oh well, the adventure is over.

I just hope he didn't bring his siblings along when he entered the house......

A taste of home

Fig Newtons

"They're not cookies, they're granola bars chopped up in squares."

-gio

Terminology

"What's a gadget?"

-luke

"A thingamabob."

-mom

"Like a cookie?"

-luke

Peaches

"I don't like the skin."

-gio

"I thought you didn't like buunt [burnt]. Is that buunt?"

-mom

"I think so! But it's fwuity, not buuny!"

-gio

Star Wars

"I know what the Force is, it's 'please'!"

-gio

Shhhhhh

"What's Brenda crying about?"

-mom
"She's not crying, she's yelling."

-gio

Minty fresh

"You are not brushing your teeth. You are rinsing your mouth with your toothbrush in it!"

-dad

Tickle attack

"Did you hear about the lady who died from being tickled? They were tickling her and she couldn't breathe, and she died."

-me

"Were you tickling her?"

-lexi

Hands

"God's got everything in His hands."

-brenda

"The whole earth?"

-luke

"Yeah."
-brenda

"But He's not holding it, 'cuz then it wouldn't turn."
-gio

Haha

"I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you...but you're not laughing."

-mom

Lexi, Gio, Mr. Toadally Rad, Luke, and Brenda

Unique? I think not.

I had a breakthrough when I was in Yosemite. I thought about the people who like to complain about their problems but don't do anything about them. I know we are all there at some point, but the difference is in how the person ends up dealing with the problem.

There are no unique people out there. Yes they have unique personalities and such, but they all have similar problems and sins (nothing new under the sun, I suppose). The real problem is that when people see their problems or sins as being unique, they think that they can effectively exempt themselves from the solutions and/or the consequences.
"Well, yes, that solution or action sounds good and right, but my situation is different. It won't work for me. So I'm going to keep on doing this wrong thing or not doing this good thing or being a victim of the problem until God miraculously removes this from my life."
Lame. Lame. Not going to work. (Unless you die...but then you wouldn't have a life... ;) )
I guess it was such a breakthrough because that is what I do and many other people do, usually subconciously. They don't actively think that they are helpless to conquer the problem or the sin, but that is the way they act.

And it's wrong. And it's not helpful. And it's frustrating. And we wonder why the problem won't just LEAVE.
Ha.

'Cuz it's easier to sit under an umbrella in the living room than to patch the leaking roof.

It ain't easy. But that's no surprise.

God never promised that life and its problems would be easy. But He did say He would never leave us nor forsake us. He'll be there to hand you the boards to patch the leaking roof.

And this analogy is done. I hope it helps someone out there. Ditch the umbrella and pick up the hammer. :)

Summit

I couldn't remember if I said I was going to Yosemite or not on my blog. So I used the handy little ctrl+f shortcut and found out that there was no instance of the word "Yosemite" in my current blog postings. Thus, I had not told you.

I went to Yosemite! ;)

Ross, Scott, Ashley, Garret, Kaydee, Irene, and I were the grateful recipients of ibex-roommate-and-friend Emily's family's mistake. At least I think it was a mistake.

Em's family reserved two campsites for a week, but some of their extended family was not coming till later in the week. Em contacted a few people via Facebook to see if anyone could use

the two nights that were available at the second site. After contacting a few brothers, sisters-in-law, and a friend, I said, "Hey, we want it!" It was so awesome! Thanks Em! We had a great time. Unfortunately Audra could not come because she had to work. Sad times! Next time, Audra!

As we were planning for our Sunday to Tuesday trip, Irene and I decided that we wanted to hike Half Dome. Ross, Scott, and Ashley would have come up too if we were going to be in the valley longer, but they decided to spend the short time going to Glacier Point with Garret and Kaydee and hanging out. So Irene and I hiked Half Dome on Monday.

Here are some facts:

+about a 5,000 foot change in altitude; the summit is 8,836 feet

+8.2 miles one direction (unless you get lost like we did; then it is 8.7 miles one direction ;) )

+if you slip under the cables, you will fall to your death

+there are frequent thunderstorms with lightning, and there is nowhere to hide on top

+sometimes the poles holding the cables are loose

+you can get altitude sickness if you don't drink enough water

+put your feet flat against the rock when you climb the cables; if you try to use your toes, you will slip

Thankfully I knew about the altitude sickness before I started climbing, unfortunately from experience last summer in Tahoe. I was not about to do that again! So I drank a LOT of water. I used Scott's big Camelback and my Nalgene.

It was a great experience. The hike was tedious but fun. The views were beautiful. God's creation screams of His love of beauty. I was afraid that I would get to the cables and turn back because...I don't like heights. I know, I know...why hike it then?

'Cuz it is THERE. Staring me in the face. I'm not a quitter. I had to.

I stared at my feet as I went up, barely looking out at the valley waaaaaaaaay below me. I told Irene to shut up about the people dying from falling or about the fact that the poles were loose or about the fact that her feet were slipping.

We made it up, had something to eat, talked to a few people, took jumping pictures. Irene almost took a little nap; she'd been up two times before.

We were some of the last people to get back down. It was not bad at all going down, besides the knowledge of the fact that if you let go, you would tumble end over end to your death. But ya know, 'sides that, it was fine. ;)

I thought I would be happy to go downhill after about seven hours of going uphill. Nope. The miles had taken their toll on my knee, toes, and ankle. For the last few miles I was focusing on walking correctly. But I made it, and God didn't let me die. :)

Favorite moments:

Irene yelling/snarling at a squirrel before we realized there were also people behind us! They walked away...hehe.

Making it to the top without dying and taking awesome pics!

Talking to a bunch of random people on the way up and the way back down.

Ross trying to lure a squirrel into the tent with Cheez-its to get the squirrel to jump on Irene in her sleeping bag.

Hanging out and talking with everyone.

As you can see, I had a great time. I love adventure. It is a part of me, and I hope I never lose it.

Life after school

Once again I am faced with uncertainty.

What will I do next year (next year as in August; for teachers and students, years are measured from August to July ;) )?

Where will I work?

Where will I live?

With whom will I live?

Will I even have a job?

What happens if I don't get a job?

Should I keep hoping that there will be substitute positions open in SoCal and/or NorCal, or should I look for a normal administrative assistant job?

Where is my flashing light from heaven?

There will be no flashing light. Because this too is a test to see if I will trust God in the midst of uncertainty, do my best with what I think He wants me to do, and let Him handle the outcome. Not easy, but then life isn't easy. Life's not easy like the button at Staples, and life's not like the movies.

I suppose I should start by listening to my pastor's message, "Worry Is Dumb!"

*sigh*

"When did we grow up?! And how do we make it stop?!"

Just kidding. I like being grown up. I remember a friend of mine trying to convince me on many different occasions that I was a grown up, errr, an adult. I think I finally believe him, though being an adult doesn't mean you stop learning. While it is great to have my parents to live with and to get help from for now, I want to move on. And that takes money. And money comes from a job. So I really want a job...a teaching job. 'Cuz teaching kids is fun...and I've started the countdown for my clear credential already...I have five years in which to get a job and to complete two years of teaching. And while I have the résumé to be hired, I'm not the most dynamic person out there (plus I myself don't look like I have graduated from high school yet). I can hold my own in the classroom, though...I have the Look.

Any way, I have rambled enough.

Pictures of the yard...if God clothes the grass of the field, won't He take care of me, oh I of little faith?

17 days

Seventeen days ago, I finished my education. Formal education, that is. Yes, I am now certified to teach middle and high schoolers English. Please hire me! :) I really liked the junior high students, but I loved my high schoolers. I would leave junior high thinking, "well, I'll be back tomorrow. I wonder what I'll be teaching." When I would leave high school, I would be thinking, "I can't wait to come back tomorrow to spend more time with these guys!" Though high schoolers are better at getting away with things (sneaking notes, texting, etc.) and are not as motivated, I just like them better. Before you think, "How sad!", remember that the majority of junior high students do grow up to be high school students...there is still hope for them. :)

In the last seventeen days I have read five books: Fahrenheit 451, The Catcher in the Rye, The Kite Runner, The Great Gatsby, and A Wrinkle in Time. More on those later.

In the last seventeen days I have taken a lot of pictures. Here are some of them.

I went to Venice Beach one Saturday. I found a sand dollar and stuck it in the cuff of my pants.

Tahoe at sunset.

Shooting Ross' rifle.

Shooting Ross' Glock out at Spenceville. :D

Dandelions in the yard.

This reminds me of Huck Finn. Lying in star thistle.

Conversation with Kat...

Here is my conversation with Kat last night on facebook regarding something stupid/really funny I did yesterday. I wish you could have been there when this story actually happened; it was a lot funnier in person. I guess you'll have to settle for our lil' chat. ;)

Katherine
oh good! i love stories that begin with "poor little kids"
12:17amJennica
this isn't about them right now
12:17amKatherine
oh
12:17amJennica
this is about Garret and I and everyone else
sort of
any way
12:17amKatherine
ok
12:17amJennica
Garret was telling us at dinner (Ross, Audra, Garret, Kaydee, and I) about how his friend pulled a rattlesnake out of a pipe by the tail.
They pulled it out by the tail 'cuz the snake didn't have enough room to turn his head around to bite anyone
sooo right before the head came out...
BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I jumped so hard an SMACKED my hand on the table!!!
12:19amKatherine
HAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA
12:19amJennica
one of Ross and Audra's little dogs had gone under the table and put his cold little nose on my hand RIGHT as Garret got to that part!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
12:20amKatherine
i can hardly type i'm laughing so hard
i sooooooooooo wish i could haev seen that
12:20amJennica
I haven't seen Garret laugh that hard in a long time!