Mom and Daughters' Trip - Jamestown

Jamestown was super special to me for a couple of reasons...

One - I learned about Jamestown by helping my youngest daughter study for her history quizzes and tests when she was in the 5th grade... I learned that Jamestown was the 1st settlement in the 'New World' - I learned that John Smith came to Jamestown - met Pocahontas - Pocahontas was the favored daughter of Chief Powhatan... Pocahontas later married John Rolfe and sailed to England with her husband and young child to promote the New America - her name was changed to Rebecca Rolfe.

Two - One of my favorite people in the world had the privilege to participate in the "Live-Historical" museum in Jamestown - She was one of my oldest daughter's 2nd grade teachers and a mentor to me... She sets an example of the mom I want to be.... We got to go visit her in Jamestown - we had not seen her in way too many years... When we finally saw her across a grass way - and when she saw us - the pure delight in her voice was enough to make me cry... The girls and I got a kick out her telling all her new friends - "Look at my students - aren't they beautiful!!! - They came all the way from California..."

The drive to Jamestown from Williamsburg was very easy and extremely beautiful - the weather however - was VERY HOT and VERY HUMID...

Nikki Mashing up corn



Kara mashing up corn
My dear sweet friend Linda

The 3 ships (replicas) that came to Jamestown - Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery

What a Great Day!

Mom And Daughters' Trip - Williamsburg

I love love American history - I was hoping that my love would rub off on my teenage daughters.... it's not to say they did not have a great time in Williamsburg - they did... The difference is I see history through an adult's perceptive and the girls see it as - something that happened a really really long time ago..... The three of us - loved every minute of it and learned many things - being a part of "live history" brings it home in so many ways... We also developed a whole new appreciation for California's mild weather....

Day 1 in Williamsburg - 101 degrees - felt like 108 - humidity - over 80% - Honest..

One of the great things about Williamsburg is that all the buildings have air conditioning.. really really cold air conditioning.... Whenever we came into a building - our first instinct was to say "Awwwww"... it was also true for the others who came in after us....

Below - College of William and Mary - the 2nd oldest university in the nation - Founded in 1696. George Washington received his surveyor's license there... Thomas Jefferson received his undergraduate degree here and presidents John Tyler and James Monroe are also famous alumis...



I love old graveyards - You will see many pictures in my follow up posts... This grave marker intrigued me -



While strolling in the Governor's gardens we met up with a young George Washington talking to the "people" about how we should break away from Great Britain and develop our own government - with our own taxes... He also talked about the uprising in Boston - also known as The Boston Tea Party - he said it was definitely not a party.. Mr. Washington was full passion and wisdom - I felt that I had really stepped back in time...
Love the garden
A visitor at the Governor's mansion
A young President George Washington
Our tour guide of the Governor's Mansion.


One of my favorite things to watch was the Fifes and Drums parade - It was so awesome....




Went to the court house and saw two naughty teens... hmm - they look like they belong to me! My youngest trying to look evil... she's just too cute to be evil..

In the evening - There is a lighting march - so beautiful to watch - the building is the Capitol - we watched a reenactment of a recorded witch trial - it definitely gave us an appreciation for our current judicial system even with its flaws....
What I did not show was pictures from our Ghost Walk - because pictures were not allowed... but it was fun and we learned more history about Williamsburg.... Great first day of our Mom/Daughter Adventure!

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles - Fighting Phobias....

This summer I took my girls on a dream vacation adventure... We flew from Southern California to Washington DC - drove down to Williamsburg, VA - drove back up to DC then we Amtrak trained it to New York City.... then Amtrak-ed it up to Boston.. drove to Salem, MA and drove to West Boylston, MA and then we finally flew home out of Boston.... Flying, Training, & Driving (in unfamiliar locations) scares the crap out of me.... I'm not quite sure when I developed these annoying often debilitating phobias.. But they are definitely alive and well today.... I was determined to not let these stupid phobias control my life this summer - I was going to take my kids on an adventure so I had to just do it..... so I did!

Flying to DC... Little did we know that DC was having an electrical storm - We ended up flying in a holding pattern above DC for almost an hour - looking down into the clouds and seeing hundreds and hundreds of lightening flashes.. After an hour the pilot informed us that the plane was running low on fuel and that we had to land in Richmond, Virginia - an airport that Alaska Airlines was not affiliated with but he had no choice... So we descended into the flashing clouds and landed in Richmond... The plane fueled up and after about an hour or so - the pilot came on to let us know that he was waiting for the calculations so that he could take off on the runway (I did NOT need to hear that).... So we took off - the ride up was very very bumpy - bumpy enough to have my youngest one grabbing onto the arm rails... My eldest - was not fazed... She had her IPod going and was reading a book.. We arrived in DC three (3) hours later than anticipated.... Midnight...


The next morning we picked up our rental car and drove down to Williamsburg... I had printed up my map quest directions before our trip so I was ready... What an amazing and beautiful drive.. We went to Williamsburg and Jamestown - I will tell you about the actual locations in another post.

Driving to Williamsburg..



Driving to Jamestown - was also very pretty - and very easy.. Thanks again Map quest.




From Williamsburg we drove to Mt. Vernon - map quest directions were good -but from Mt. Vernon to Hertz got a little tricky - well the directions said go West and I don't know West from East when I have no idea where I am - so we took a huge little detour....

From DC - we left Union Station to train it up to New York... The train was delayed - because for whatever reason they forgot to bring it to the station from the yard.. huh? So any hoo - it was late... When the train was going a somewhat normal speed I was okay - but there were times it felt like it was going way too fast - got a little nervous... The real nerve racking part of the trip was trying to figure out how to get the heck out of Penn Station!!!! That place is the black hole..



From NYC - We trained up to Boston - again the ride was okay except for a couple of really fast straight-aways.. The view however - was breathtaking..






From Boston - I rented a car to drive to Salem - supposedly an easy drive.. yeah right - getting out of Boston was so flipping hard - the drivers are INSANE and the street signs - couldn't find any.. so I ended up in some tunnel under the ocean going in the opposite direction for about 5 miles... of course my smart-ass daughter - asks "Mom, why didn't you listen to the guy's directions??" I think one of my biggest fears is being lost - well - let's just say the 30 minutes or so that I had no idea what I was doing... was not a good time.... But we did finally figure it out and arrived in Salem.. No pictures to post on that one.. ha - to add insult to injury - I had a free GPS upgrade!!!! The GPS voice sounded like she was also getting frustrated with me -

From Boston we drove to my sister's house in West Boylston, MA - beautiful drive - the big difference between Los Angeles 405 FWY and the Mass Pike is that - the 405 there are few trees - a gazillion places to stop for directions, eat, go potty, or whatever.. The Mass Pike - there's just trees.. and more trees and a couple of toll booths..


We then drove from West Boylston back to Boston - dropped the car off - took a taxi to Logan International Airport ($27.00) - rip off.. Went up to a kiosk to print our boarding passes and the computer informed us that we could not- our flight was CANCELLED!!!!! So - I stood in line with about 1000 other people (okay I exaggerated a little) and the two other flights to Orange County, CA were cancelled or booked... We ended up taking a flight that took off 3 hours later than our original and landed in Los Angeles - about 40 miles from our home.... The poor husband arrived at LAX at 10:10 PM to pick up his family but our plane was delayed and then our luggage was LOST - the entire plane's luggage was LOST... We finally were in the car at a little past MIDNIGHT.... Oh, and I forgot to add that - we sat in the very last row (across from the bathrooms - have you ever smelled airplane bathrooms??? YUCK) and the plane was delayed due to more east coast thunder and lightening storms... The entire flight was bumpy... the seat belt light remained on and we could watch the electrical storm below us all the way across the United States.... The lightening around Bryce Canyon was exceptionally pretty.... scary....

We flew back via American Airlines and I have to say - Alaska's service is far superior in my opinion - so I sucked up my phobias and boy did I get an opportunity to trust God... that's all I'm saying on that one.. ha... I will tell you about our amazing travels in other upcoming posts.. I'm very glad to be home...

The Water below is at the end of the runway - got a little nervous... okay a lot nervous...

The Passive Aggressive Christian

On Sunday mornings I see my church family and friends... There are hugs - air kisses - and lots of "How are you"s.. Most everyone is in a good mood - friendly outgoing... and because we are "good" Christians we keep our Sunday "happy" faces on until we get in the car home. This is not uncommon... and that's okay... I enjoy going to church to worship with other "happy" followers of Christ.... I am not saying that we are "fake" on Sunday mornings - because we truly are not... I am saying there is a time and a place to share our grief... our sadness.. our whatever is going on in our lives... Sunday mornings should be about honoring God.. worshiping Him - it should be a time of happiness.. of peace... and because we are human and have many things going on in our lives - we might not want to smile... but we do... Because it's the right thing to do..

In most any group - there are those that want to stir up things while wearing that smiley happy face... You know the guy/girl that is so skilled at lashing out - stoking a fire - while still appearing innocent.. well-meaning... The person that will smile and tell Joe Smoe what a great job he is doing and then turn around and tell Suzie Homemaker that Joe Smoe needs to find another ministry to work in..... The person who always has something nasty to say - while holding on for dear life that righteous smile covering their face... This person I call the Passive Aggressive Christian...

Definition: Passive Aggressive - A way of behaving that seeks to manipulate others indirectly and resist their demands rather than confronting or opposing them directly.

Now the passive aggressive Christian is scary... This is the person who is smiling - throwing out those air kisses but they can't wait to tell you some juicy gossip about someone... Of course this little tidbit would not be under the heading of "gossip" because that would be bad.. it would be under the heading "I'm just concerned" or "I thought you should know"... The passive aggressive Christian has also become a pro at forwarding emails... You know the emails that usually talk about our countrymen... our president... our welfare system... The emails will point out some injustice that was occurring... and if the receiver of this email bothered to check it out on Snopes - they would soon realize that the email was another "fraud" to stir up hate... anger.. whatever.... The passive aggressive Christian will not check out the facts of a story... They just pass it on - trying to find another reason to complain - sound concerned... Appear holier than others...

What is scary about the PAC "passive aggressive Christian" is that they are showing an awful example of God's love to non-believers and baby Christians.. The PAC is very good at justifying or rationalizing their behavior.. The Bible tells us (Matthew 5 and Matthew 18) that we as Christians need to gently confront this PAC and that is a hard thing to do... I know I can't.. won't... I'm not good enough with my words.. my emotions... I would cry out in frustration... I think because many of us are cowards like myself - the PAC is getting the wrong message - the message that we agree with them.. so they continue to send emails... they continue to "show concern".. they continue to spread their slippery slope of opinions..... So today - I will do my non-approach thing... I will delete the 3 emails I received today..... DELETE.

Do you know a PAC and if you do - Do you say or do anything???

Therapy, Prozac, and A Bunch of "That's Great!"

This week I started therapy... When I shared this information with a few family and friends - everyone I told thought that it was great... That kind of confused me a little.... Did these people think I needed therapy? Or are they just supporting my decision? When I told my mother in law - she thought it was great... she said I should check out Prozac too.... What??? She shared that she has been taking a very small dosage for a while and she believes her life is more bright... She told me that she wakes up in the morning and the birds are singing and she is happy... I'm really not a "happy bird-singing kinda girl" but okay... Whatever works....

One of the questions that the therapist asked me is haunting me today.... She asked if I felt there was someone in my life who I can confide in... someone who loves me... And my first thought was "No"... It's not to say that my family and friends don't love me... I have no doubt they do... But in my mind - there was not one person who I can just dump on.. There isn't one person who really has the time to listen to my worries... It sounds kind of lonely granted - but I think in reality most people feel the same as I do.... Many Christians will say give it to God... and that sounds all well and good but the fact is - God puts people in our lives for fellowship... for support, and for love... We just need to nurture and develop those relationships... and at times it is so hard to do that... Family and work responsibilities can take over our lives and the next thing we know - a year has gone by and we wonder where the hell it went....

I know the first step in making things better is admitting to ourselves that we need help... And I am doing that... We also have to act on the positive steps to get better.... I am working on that... I know I have a long and difficult road ahead of me - but I am looking forward to healing.. I am looking forward to learning the tools that I need to be healthier.... and who knows - I might just become a "happy-bird singing kinda girl"... it could happen.....