Alabama in May

Amos and I journeyed out to Alabama for my cousin Aimee's wedding.  Here is a photo post of our trip...
First off, the flora.

Tons of Queen Anne's Lace along the freeway in Mississippi

Alabama Blue

My mom says there is a specific color blue for the summer skies in Alabama

Oh, hello!
(Flora AND fauna!)

Grapevines create a chorus line at Aimee and Daniel's wedding venue

My Aunt Brenda is a master gardener!  One of her many hydrangea

A huge magnolia near Grandmother's house

Mimosa, an icon of the South

Some purple flower

Aunt Brenda and Uncle Jerry's woods

And now, the fauna...

About to cross the Mississippi into Tennessee!  No good pics of the river... :P

I've always loved this Cape buffalo.
Granddad shot him on one of his African safari trips.

Daniel, in blue, with his brother, mom, and sister, helping with the rehearsal
dinner preparations

Cambodian chicken curry - so good!

Amos, Mr. Lighting Expert, replaces the ballast in the mud room light fixture
while Uncle Jerry holds the light and provides moral support ;)

Amos hands off Bailey's balloons after Chelsea
made sure she wasn't dying from a mortal wound.

Daniel and Aimee, working on boutonnieres

Awwww!  Daniel likes Aimee. :)

More flower deliberation with a skeptical Aunt Brenda and Emily

Mother and daughter: Grandmother and Aunt Brenda :)

Father and daughter: Mom and Granddad :)

Aimee is so excited!

The next day, pre-departure

Aunt Brenda and Uncle Jerry

Cousins!  Emily, me, Aaron, Aimee, Lydia, and Seth :)

Daniel with Addi and Bailey, new nieces :)

How cute is this?!?!
Addi watches a toad that Aunt Brenda extracted from her plants

Heading home...with a blue filter??

Elizabeth at work at FamilyLife

College friends :)

Grandmother and I

This last picture is the last picture of Grandmother and me. Grandmother died last Saturday from acute leukemia.  She was a fun, sweet lady, infinitely generous and loving.  Amos and I stayed at her house for this trip, and the most striking thing about her home was the myriad of family pictures.  Pictures on the walls, pictures on the dresser, pictures in boxes, pictures on side tables, pictures on shelves, pictures in calendars, pictures on the fridge.  Grandmother loved her family very much, and we will all miss her very much.

A storm

Thursday, July 14th
12:30 am*
Jennica awakes with a gasp to a huge bang and a flash of bright light.  A storm is raging outside.
After convincing herself it is not the Rapture, she tries to go back to sleep.

7:30 am
Jennica and Amos leave the apartment, commenting on the blue sky and the cool air.

12:00 pm
John, a coworker, walks out of the office with a golf umbrella and the enigmatic words, "Wish me luck!"
Rod, a coworker, rushes out of the office, saying he needs to close the car window that he left open.

12:15 pm
People start scurrying around the office.  Jennica looks out the window and sees a dark, ominous sky.

12:17 pm
Tornado sirens are heard, even up on the ninth floor.

12:19 pm
Jennica stops looking out the windows and tells a coworker she will be right back.

Paul:  Oh, that's right, you're from California.
[He thinks I'm going to the basement.]
Jennica:  Actually, I'm going to the bathroom.

12:25 pm
Jennica joins Paul and Rod at another window.  They watch the storm blow in.  At one point a very small cone forms in the clouds but is quickly drawn back up.  Jennica thinks this is all very exciting, but it would be a shame to be sucked out the window.**

12:30 pm
Jennica, Paul, and Rod return to the office and look out of other windows.  A tornado siren goes off in the building itself, but a voice quickly informs the building that "the tornado has been canceled."

12:35 pm
People try to go back to work.  John comes back up from the basement, not having bothered to leave for his usual lunch break.

12:45 pm
Jennica decides to eat lunch.

2:15 pm
Jennica leaves work and navigates the traffic that is even worse than normal.***

2:30 pm
Jennica arrives at Amos' office, but he is not able to go home yet.

3:00 pm
Jennica arrives at home and finds this:

And this:

(The power was out)

5:00 pm
Jennica arrives at Amos' office, having navigated a city missing half of its traffic signals.

5:30 pm
Jennica and Amos arrive at the chiropractor.

6:00 pm
Jennica and Amos drive to dinner, but Jason's Deli is closed.

6:50 pm
Jennica and Amos reach a Panera Bread and order dinner.

7:15 pm
Jennica and Amos are informed that Panera is out of bagettes.  Jennica chooses Asiago bread; Amos chooses whole grain.

7:20 pm
Jennica and Amos receive their meal.

8:30 pm
Jennica and Amos arrive at home.  The power is still out.

8:35 pm
Jennica takes some pictures of a beautiful sky, which tries to pretend that it hadn't just unleashed a storm on the city.

9:00 pm
Jennica takes a selfie.

Friday, July 15th
3:10 am
The power comes back on.

----------------------
* Times are approximate.
** It wasn't that bad.
*** Apparently bad drivers get even worse in the aftermath of a storm.

Portrait of an Evening Sky

It rained this evening then the clouds put on a little show.

Road Trip

Back in May, Amos and I took a road trip to Alabama to visit some of my extended family and to attend my cousin Aimee's wedding.  We had a great time!  I took a lot of beautiful pictures which I will post later, but for now, here is the journal page I made, summarizing our trip. :)

Home.

Home
is a mysterious place.
Is it
family?
Is it
friends?
Is it
church?
Is it
mountains?
Is it
desert?
Is it
ocean?
Is it
plains?
Is it
canyons?
Is it
rain?
Is it
pines?


A series of homes for a friend.

California

Arizona

Eretz Israel

Washington

Illinois

Late-night visitor

Today, I leave for California and Irene's nursing school graduation.

Last night, I had a late-night visitor.

Amos did the dishes while I picked out some clothes and refilled my travel toiletries, and afterward, I took out the house trash.  I walked down the stairs and along the dim sidewalk, and out in the grass
something
moved.

I jumped.

It jumped.

It was a toad!

I was very excited, so I chased him around the lawn for a bit, trying to work up the courage to snatch him.  I cornered him on the sidewalk between the railroad tie flower bed and my kitchen garbage bag and finally
grabbed.

I tossed the trash and tried to think of what to say to announce our visitor's presence to Amos.

"Look what I found!"

Amos was not as excited as I was, but he did look at Hopper the toad and make some nice noises. :)

I stuck Hopper in an old yogurt container and left him on the counter while I went to get the camera.

Hopper did not like the camera.

As soon as the lens appeared over the lip of the yogurt tub,
he jumped.

I jumped!

(and shrieked)

He jumped again and flew from the counter to the carpet.  I managed to get him back in the yogurt tub and covered him with an Aldi ad while I searched for a more secure prison box.  I found an empty box and asked Amos to unfold some freezer dinner boxes for the bottom in case Hopper...had an accident.

(I hadn't taken out the recycling in a while, hence the available freezer dinner boxes and yogurt container.)

Hopper calmed down in his new prison box and I got some really good pictures of him before releasing him and he
hopped
hopped
hopped away.


Click to enlarge the pictures, and check out the cool pattern in Hopper's eyes.

Yo.  Howdy.  How ya doin.

Check out his crazy eyes!

Cool skin...

Public Frienemy #1  ;)

Jumpy the fishing lure and Hopper the toad...not very original, but fun ;)

No title

Last weekend we had a fun adventure which involved a trip to the new Trader Joe's store, a picnic in the park, a couple's engagement in the park (their friends set up a surprise picnic for them beforehand), a snack of Pinkitzel cupcakes (which were smaller than we remembered), a visit to Bass Pro (where we saw lots of prom-goers...?), and dinner at Oklahoma Joe's.  It was a very fun day. :)

This month has been busy, and next month looks to be even busier!  Yep, every weekend is full...

Church friend's baby shower
Friend's graduation in NorCal
Amos' grandpa's auction in Oklahoma
Cousin's wedding in Alabama

Oh dear, it looks like I had better get started on finding some presents!

Unlooked-for

I had an unlooked-for adventure today.

Before that adventure, I actually had two other adventures.

The first adventure was walking down the road to Target.  I picked out a card for a baby shower, a gift bag, a set of black pens that included a free silver pen, and a few other things.  I called my mom on the walk back home and found out that my brother Luke was headed to the orthodontist to get his gums trimmed.  (Apparently the gums are partially covering his back molars?  Ow!)

I arrived at home, changed into some shorts, grabbed my camera, and headed out for adventure number two.  I walked out to the two ponds that are near the three churches.  I took lots of pictures, watched turtles get stuck on rocks as they tried to fall into the water, scared a huge frog into the pond, and watched a frog and water snake swim.

I had just made it back to our apartment when the Unlooked-For Adventure began.

I didn't have my keys.

Oh dear.  Oh dear.

I hurriedly retraced my steps...back through the field...along the brilliant green algae ditch...across the road...around the first pond...around the second pond...through the woods...over to the doors of the church...back across the road...through the neighborhood...down the hill...up the stairs...the door was definitely locked.

No keys.

I called Amos as I headed back to walk through the field a third time.  As we were discussing asking the office to let me back in, I found them, lying in the field where I had knelt down to take a picture of some trees and the blue sky.

*phew!*

On to the next adventure...

Click the pictures, especially the one with the hidden frog. :)

Near the place I dropped my keys 

What a beautiful contrast!

Honeysuckle; not very fragrant quite yet

Can you find the frog?!  He IS in there!

Irises growing in pond

A large frog, aka, Chub

Irises

Abandoned barbed wire

The second pond; much less algae

Flourishing plants

Nature retakes territory

Natural barbed wire

An abandoned sign

A water snake!

Purple clover picked during Adventure #1

Two years later

Here we are again. April 4th.  A day that will live in infamy, at least for me.

Two years ago, Amos and I arrived in Oklahoma City, full of hopes and excitement.  My hopes were quickly crushed, smothered under homesickness, the ugliness of the city, and a gaping hole that used to be my identity (friend, neighbor, missions coordinator, note taker, needed).

I was miserable.

Two years later, I am doing a lot better.

In the two years we have been here...
I have found some nice grocery stores, especially in Tulsa.  (Hello, Reasor's!  I love your cheese samples! :D )
I found my favorite OK hill, also in Tulsa.  It definitely isn't a mountain, but it's better than nothing!  Sometimes I take a detour, just so I can drive down it.
We have attended two great churches, both with good teaching and friendly community group/Sunday School classes.
We have made some very nice, genuine, encouraging friends, both in OKC and Tulsa.
I have had several jobs: substitute teacher, testing center clerk, and now, administrative assistant at a small corporation.
I have been able to visit California a few times.
We have survived severe weather!
We have so far managed to avoid any collisions.  Seriously, the driving in Southern California is nothing compared to driving in Tulsa.  Who taught these people how to "drive"?!
We have moved four times in two years.  The longest time we spent in one apartment was seven and a half months, and the shortest time (in the drafty bug house with the nutso landlord) was thankfully just three months.

All in all, looking back, it has been tough, but not bad.

Amos and I were talking about our transition last night, and we realized we still aren't used to living here.

We lived in Santa Clarita for almost ten years.  We attended our last church, Crossroads, for almost five years.  We had a routine, and even when we added things to that routine, it was still manageable.

Here in Oklahoma, we are still getting used to living in one apartment for more than half a year.  We are still trying to remember the names of all the friendly people at church.  We are still figuring out where to go to eat.  We are still dealing with weekly headaches for Amos.  We are still wondering when we will have time to fit in our normal California activities, like getting frozen yogurt on Sunday evenings or going on walks.  We are still trying to go to bed before 11:00.  We are still dealing with stress, known and unknown.

Still.

But.

Our second year was better than our first.  Here's to even better things, in year three of this exodus.


"...the LORD will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard."
::Isaiah 52:12b