CRAZY

Snow again! It started snowing last night and still has not stopped! Nothing makes me wish we were back in California like snow in May. Tomorrow I am helping with the Harvest Springs table at the National Day of Prayer setup downtown…of course it is supposed to be outside! I am praying the sun will come out and it will be an amazing day, although I am sure it will be anyway if my focus is in the right place and not on myself and the weather. It is only Wednesday and it has been a crazy, but wonderful week. Saturday I learned how to make baklava from Jackie Pappas who is Greek, and I got to learn with Dana! While we were baking, the dogs had a play date, and we were totally worn out by the time we got home. Not done yet, we went to a Garry Allen, Jack Ingram, and Josh Thompson concert that night with another good friend of ours. We had church Sunday where we had the privilege of watch our two friends, a husband/wife couple, get baptized and then go out to lunch at Fuddruckers to celebrate. A great workout and a meeting about our booth for the National Day of Prayer on Thursday started the day Monday, and the rest of the day was filled with making poster boards for the NDP and invitations for my sister Sarah’s bridal shower. Monday ended with getting together with girl friends and putting ribbon on bookmarks for Thursday while sipping white chocolate hot chocolate and eating brownies, with the wind howling outside. Last night we had our squadron spouses meeting at Macaroni Grill! What a fun week and it is only half over!

So proud of my baklava!

Dana and Jackie making baklava

Dana, Heather and me and the concert

Snow! Yuck

Well, it turned out my friends were right. Thursday we had a full blown winter storm that lasted all day. The weather was so bad Matthew had to have a helicopter take him out to his alert yesterday! Other than the fact that I don’t really like them flying in such bad wind, I am so jealous! How fun to get to go on a helicopter ride to work! Maybe now that all of our friends are graduating from pilot training, and we know at least four helicopter pilots, I will get a ride one of these days (hint hint). At least I have a little bit of spring right in my home. I have been growing seeds for my garden and in the last week they have all poked their little heads out. It is so fun to see them grow!

Seal Beach

A few miles north of Hearst Castle there is a beautiful beach where Elephant Seals like to come and hang out throughout the year. It was so fun to go see the seals in the wild with some good friends of ours, Stephen and Jen McVay. See the slideshow below for pictures!

Hearst Castle

Yesterday we had a great time visiting Hearst Castle. It's amazing! This place is so big there are five different tours you can take to look at different parts of the castle and grounds. We took "The Experience" tour which is the one recommended for first time visitors. It is an overview of the castle and includes looking at both swimming pools, the guest houses, and the main floor.

The castle was built by William Hearst who built his fortune though the newspaper industry in the first part of the 1900s. Hearst formally named the estate “La Cuesta Encantada” (“The Enchanted Hill”). Here is a slideshow of pictures that capture some of what we experienced.