thoughts from the deep recesses

Okay. Now you'll all know that I am still desperately behind the times. I don't own an ipod. Or an MP3 player of any sort. I still buy CD's. And here's where I buy them. $5.99 a month. No shipping and handling. I think it's a great deal. If you like new music on a regular basis, you can't beat this. Unless you are like 90% of the rest of the world, and you get your music one song at a time off of itunes. Maybe I will too someday. But for now, this is where I get my music. Commercial over.

The last day of July. I can hardly believe it... School starts 5 weeks from tomorrow. I had a fairly exhausting weekend, with a bunch of emotional stuff going on. I'm still processing a lot of it, but am reassured that God is by my side and holding my hand... it's all good. I teach twice this week and then have the rest of the month of August off from teaching. August is always slow at the store. And I'm afraid it may be slow here at home too as I push through to the end of summer. Asia travels a bunch this month... it could be a looooonnnnnng month. I'll have to figure out some clever ways to keep us all from going crazy. The heat has finally passed us by. Yesterday the high was only 70 degrees. It's supposed to be in the 80's all week. I'm so thankful. I really don't function well in weather over 90 degrees. Can you say cranky? It's great to have it cool enough that I feel like I can turn the oven on and cook dinner without baking the whole famil...

Here is my sweet S... she's such a great poser. I gotta tell ya, this one works the camera, people. Manzanita, Oregon - July 2006

These are just a handful of the pictures I took of my nephew at the beach. Isn't he handsome? Now - I'm going to see if I can get lucky and post pictures of S. in her beach hat... wish me luck!

Wow, we've been getting up early here at the Goins' house. The dog somehow got on a crazy schedule while we were gone on vacation. Our housesitter is a landscaper, so I'm thinking it's his fault. He must have been getting up really early and letting her out of her crate, because now, every morning at 5:00 she's whimpering. Seriously whimpering. Like "I've got to go to the bathroom right now and if someone doesn't come let me out, I'm going to go right now" whimpering. And sure enough, I let her out, and she goes immediately to her spot in the backyard and goes. Does anyone know how to adjust the bowel habits of dogs? Okay. I don't really need an answer to that. She'll get back to her routine. All that to say that I've been getting very little sleep. Add the heat to the early mornings and Asia's absence and I'll bet I'm getting by on about 5 - 6 hours a night. I'm not tired though. I'm actually enjoying my early ...

First of all, can we all just have a moment of silence for the nice long blog post I just wrote, only to have it disappear into the blogger files of obscurity? I hate it when that happens. Okay. Now for my attempt to re-write it. My weekend was lovely. I had visitors coming Saturday night, so I spent most of the day cleaning and putting things away from vacation. It was a sweaty day, since the temp was over 100 and we don't have air conditioning. But the house is so clean. And it's so nice to be fully recovered from vacation... Ryan came to visit WITH A GIRL!!! A girl who is sweet and lovely and has the most beautiful eyes... Her name is Mindy, and I think perhaps she is the answer to our prayers. I really really liked her. It was so fun to visit with Ryan and watch them together and take her around Spokane to show off our great little city. Asia got home from the funeral yesterday at around 3:00. Slept one night in his own bed and is now on his way to Seattle for his first we...

Home from vacation. A week on the Oregon coast with perfect weather, great company and lots of time to just chill on the beach... now that's my idea of the ideal vacation. I'm more than a little sunburned. You know this heat wave? It meant the beach was the perfect temperature for sitting in beach chairs while the kids played. And sitting. And sitting. Lots of sun. And guess who forgot to pack the sunscreen? Oops. Of course, my kids, with their blessed genes, never sunburn. They turn deep deep brown. And Asia? He just gets browner. Me? I get pink. Really pink. The kids stayed behind - S. and E. are at my parent's house for the weekend, and K. is at my brother's house. Mom and Dad will bring them all home on Monday, on their way to vacation in Yellowstone. The kids are thrilled to get to ride in the R.V. with Grandma and Grandpa. Such good memories. Asia is in Montana today for Diane's funeral service. He drove over last night with his brother. (After driving home 8...

So Spokane is the first location in the Pacific Northwest to get a Sonic Drive In . And since it's opening, cars have been lining up around the block to go to this old fashioned drive in with car hops on roller skates and delicious flavored slushes. The craziness seemed to have died down a bit finally, so the kids and I gave it a go yesterday. And we had a blast. First of all, they have tots . Not many restaurants offer tots, you know. And I'll take a crispy tot over soggy fries any day. And they have a gazillion flavors you can add to your soda. I had some lime added to my Diet Coke. (Thank goodness they serve Coke - if it was Pepsi I'd have been mighty disappointed.) The burgers were delish. The slushes flavorful and tasty. And the atmosphere? FUN! How can you not smile when someone brings you your food on roller skates? I had a Chili Cheese Wrap. Chili, cheese and FRITOS all wrapped up in a flour tortilla. Oh my goodness. Soooo yummy. Now, I acknowledge, it's not ha...

It's been a blissful morning... I was up early enough to sit on the porch with Asia and wait for his ride, (he's car-less now, remember.) I played with the dog, read all my 'daily blogs', went for a bike ride with S. and E. to buy milk and yogurt for smoothies, made the smoothies, (Blueberry/Banana - YUM!) and now have a few minutes to post while the kids do their chores before we start Bible Time. Been thinking a lot about cycles in life lately. You know those life phases we go through? Sometimes you're in a groove and things run smoothly for a time, and then we hit a rough spot... I've been around long enough to know that the rough spots are all part of the cycle - that they pass, and I'll find my way back into the groove. I've been in a bit of a rough patch this past year... it hasn't been anything overwhelming, but it's there. The ride is a bit bumpier than usual. Lots of things contribute to it... Asia's mid-life angst. The leaving of t...

I met with my boss, Kathy last night to go over the fall schedule at the store. I'm teaching 24 times from September 12th through December 18th. When I say it like that, I scare myself. But when I take it one month at a time, it's fine. Lots of fun stuff on the schedule... Christmas Photo Cards A metal embossed angel tree topper An Album in a Day Gift Card Holders for Stocking Stuffers A 2007 Organizer Halloween and Christmas Mini Books Lots to design... In other news, we are officially a one-car family - at least until we get the new car details worked out. The buyers came with the cashier's check last night and drove away with Marvin, our old car. (Yes, we always name our cars.) I was gone when it happened, and was just a teeny bit sad to drive up the driveway and see the car gone. It used to be my Grandpa's car - I always felt a little connection to my grandparents whenever I drove it. We still have Grandpa's tool box from the trunk... Asia rode his bike to work ...

It's been a crazy busy weekend - and the week ahead promises to be the same... not a lot of time for the computer. There are some things on my mind though, so I'm going to blurt. I had sick kids this week. S. threw up (everywhere - all over her bed and carpet) on Monday night and all day Tuesday... Just when I thought she was better and we could leave the house, E. threw up in the first store we stopped at on Thursday. Fun. Thank goodness no one else has gotten the dreaded tummy bug. Yet. I have a mammogram scheduled for tomorrow morning. Yay. I helped in the nursery at church this morning. I'm sort of waiting on Asia regarding how we are going to serve at our new church - but when the opportunity came up for me to help in the nursery, I jumped at the chance. It's been years since I've done nursery work... when my kids were babies you couldn't have paid me to work in the nursery. Now, I love it. I get to squeeze sweet little babies and bounce them and smell the...

God uses people. I have been privileged in my life to have numerous people placed in my life - people who challenge and uplift and question and prod. People who build up. People who set an example. People whom God uses to provide friendship, stability, wisdom, finances, love... People who are the hands and feet of Jesus. Literally. There is a family who has provided all of those things and more to Asia for well over 20 years. A family who embraced him at a critical time in his life. A family who became mother and father and brothers to a boy who knew mostly only chaos in family life. A family who pushed him to go to bible college instead of moving to L.A. to pursue modeling. A family who paid the bill for said college. A family who, when the time came, were the ones whose approval Asia sought regarding our relationship and potential marriage. The Willis family. My other in-laws. These people truly loved Asia like a son. And when I came along, they loved me as a daughter. And yes, the ...

We've been to Boise. And back again. Our family made the long and boring drive over the weekend to Boise to visit my dear friend Kelly. Kelly and I have known each other since the late 80's. We met in San Jose - where I was living and doing an internship as an inner city missionary, and she was going to college and living with her grandparents. We were in a bible study together. And we became fast friends. Now - if you were to try to find two women who were more polar opposites in personality, I'm not sure you could. Where I am matter-of-fact, she is idealistic. I am clean and simple, and she is frilly and fluffy. My home decor is green and gold and orange. Hers is pink. Lots of pink. Kelly is feminine and girly. I am not so much. I am steady and a little deadpan. Kelly is dramatic and expressive. I am artistic and creative. Kelly is intellectual and bookish. I don't do knick-knacks. Kelly does. Kelly does leopard print and hats and long flowing hair. I am all about blu...