Happy 7th Birthday, Carly!

Carly is my cousin Michele's sweet daughter. We live close to each other and I get to spend time with her and her little sister, Lauren, frequently. Carly has a unique spunky and creative personality. She'll keep you laughing with her quirky sense of humor and antics.

I caught her running around with her ski goggles on. And notice she has them placed diagonally. Who needs to wear them the "right" way?

And up the stairs she goes for a little guitar solo.

And now taking some time to pose for a picture. Peace!

And back to the strumming to the Alvin and the Chipmunks soundtrack. All of the tracks are in quadruple time!

Carly, I just love you, precious girl! Happy Birthday!

Why bother praying?

Thank you to MckMama for her post on prayers. Very fitting for me today.

"God answers prayers. Just not always in the way or in the time frame we want. God answers prayers, but the outcome we hope for, and beseech God for, is not always the outcome God has in mind. God hears our prayers. But God still does what He, in His sovereignty, is going to do. He listens to our prayers, hears us each and every time we speak to Him, think to Him, or even groan to Him. God is affected by our prayers and He wants us to pray. But God is still God and our prayers do not change God or His mind, at least not in the way we sometimes think. He knew we were going to pray before we ever prayed. He knows the past, present and future all at once. He listens to our prayers, but our prayers don't change things. God changes things. "

I have a laminated paper on my bathroom mirror. It serves as a daily reminder. And if only I could BELIEVE, really BELIEVE.

"The Lord will work out His plans for my life."

~ Psalm 138:8

God's plan is:

Often bigger than my plan.

God's plan is:

Often more painful and harder than my plan.

God's plan is:

Always better.

"Trust God from the bottom of your heart. Don't try to figure out everything on your own."

~Proverbs 3:5

More on why pray? Here

Words for Wednesday

"For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again."

~Brad Pitt

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch

To celebrate Easter and all of the Spring glory, my friend Z surprised me with a trip to The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch. We talked about going last year, but missed our window of opportunity as it is open for 10 weeks March - May.

It was gorgeous! Acres and acres of the giant strain of Ranunculus known as Tecolote.

I just barely crossed the tape to capture this shot. And no flowers were harmed, I promise, in the taking of this photograph!

Notice how there are only a few yellow ones in a sea of red? I think they're the extra special ones.

Up close and personal.

Perfect rows.

And a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean, just beyond the windmill.

Me and Zee.

A good old fashion tractor ride...

"I want a John Deere tractor and a half an acre field..."

So if you're headed to Carlsbad or on to San Diego, stop by. They have a great picnic area and lots or room to roam and smell the flowers. There's a Sweet Pea Maze, Rose Gardens and a huge Poinsettia greenhouse. A flower lovers delight! (Oh, and the Carlsbad factory Outlets too... :O) )

Easter with family and a portrait

He Is Risen!

"And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them ..."

Mark 16

My sister Janice, Brother-in-law Mark, nephew Andrew and my parents joined me for Easter Service with Saddleback Church's FUEL (formerly FUSE!) Service.

I suckered them into a, "family portrait." It's the Southern California "Hughie" (and Graffius) folk.

We had a low key enjoyable Easter day. Church followed by a little Masters watching, card playing, fillet mignon and salmon eating. I did miss the Easter baskets, the obligatory egg hunt and the chocolate bunnies... sigh... I'll just have to wait until I have my own little ones. Someday...

Andrew and Papa Oregon

Too cool for school

My nephew Andrew and Dad.

We had some great pre Easter bowling today.

Happy Easter to all of you!

Vegas with Kathi ~ and Cirque du Soleil's KA

I was back in Vegas this week for work. My friend Kathi flew in for a night and we had an incredible Girls Night out! After lunch at Wild Oats we hit Fashion Show Mall and went shoe shopping. I've been on the hunt for some shoes for my brother and Sonia's wedding. I found them at a great Macy's sale and will put them to good use this summer. They are black funky peep show wedges that are different than what I'd usually wear... but I love 'em! :O) Kathi found some good finds for work attire and loved my bargain shopping technique!

We ate dinner at Maggiano's. Kathi and I were agreement on the gnocchi and steak and Gorgonzola salad. I love gnocchi... but usually only have the Trader Joe's put-the-bag-in-the-microwave-and-cook variety.

We splurged on tickets to Cirque Du Soleil's KA. Although pricey, it was very entertaining. It's different than Mystere and La Reve that I've seen. It's more of a story and follows Imperial Twins, separated by war. There is, as always, impeccable attention to detail, design and incredible choreography. The costumes and makeup was amazing as were the acrobats, trapeze artists and dancers. I'm in awe of how flexible and talented the cast is... I can't even to a single cartwheel!

After the show...

I'm going to recruit Kathi to come to Vegas with me next time! Many more Cirque du Soleil shows to see!

We couldn't leave without making a few contributions to MGM via Jackpot Party. I played for nearly an hour on $1.00! I didn't walk out a winner, but had no remorse seeing how I didn't make much of an, "investment."

On the drive home Friday afternoon we made a few more shopping stops and I found some bargain basement values for Kathi. 6 pairs of shoes and much apparel later we were back on the 1-15 south homeward bound. And... surprisingly, had no Easter weekend traffic. Yea, for good timing!

What a Wonderful Weekend

I met my friends Kathi and Terri in Santa Monica Friday afternoon. Kathi had a conference for work in Santa Monica and invited me to join her for dinner and yoga. Remember my last yoga experience? I decided to give it another try, and this time not be in a 137 degree room! It was actually very relaxing and despite my non flexibility handicap I think I could regularly take yoga classes and benefit!

We ate dinner at the best Mexican restaurant. It's called Border Grill and it's a hip, urban cantina with delicious food. I had plantain empanadas for the first time and they were super yummy!

Saturday morning I had an all day training for Comfort Zone Camp. Comfort Zone Camp is the nation’s largest bereavement camp. Comfort Zone Camps are offered free of charge to children ages 7-17 who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling or primary caregiver. I will be a first time counselor at a camp in Malibu, CA later this month.

I am very excited to be a part of this camp. I whole heartily agree with their philosophies and mission to help grieving children heal and think that it will be an incredible experience.

Sunday Carolyn and kids picked me up and we headed to Newport Beach to ride bikes at Crystal Cove.

I bought my bike a few months ago with the hopes that I can bike at the beach. I love that Carolyn has a 4 biker bike rack and loves to bike too!

Elizabeth's ready!

My new bike. It's a "pimped out" Schwinn 7 speed which is Beach Cruiser-ish. I added the basket and a grande cushy seat. Unfortunately I had a low tire so it made riding a bit of a challenge. But today was a good trial run for future beach bike rides!

We ate lunch at Ruby's in Newport.

And we couldn't stop laughing at this gentleman's home hemmed short jean shorts. I guess you had to be there... but we got a huge kick out of it!

Carolyn and I spent several hours on her laptop... I'm showing her the ropes of MS Office and at times it's like the blind leading the blind!

For dinner we made Haystacks. They are very big at Loma Linda University Medical Center, where Carolyn and I met and she still works. If you google Seventh Day Adventists and Haystacks you'll read about how popular they are! I think they are just upgraded junk food cuisine, but others might beg to differ.

And that's what she's talking about! Carolyn loves her some Haystacks!

An afternoon of Great Expectations courtesy of Santa Ana College Theatre Department

I feel a little bit guilty that I don't take advantage of local theatre productions more often. Southern California has a plethora of community, college and even Preforming Arts High School's that all put out some pretty great productions.

Growing up, my parents exposed me to a lot of music and theatre. They supported my love of the stage by enrolling me in theatre, dance, voice and piano lessons at a young age. They schlepped me to and from my lessons and rehearsals and patiently sat through many recitals and performances. My mother was insistent that I study piano and I played from Kindergarten - high school graduation. I despised practicing and was never a model student. As soon as I hit college I, "retired," and it isn't until very recent that I've started to tickle the ivorys a bit. All of those years of lessons was money well spent as I have an appreciation for music and being classically trained has served me well.

I sang and danced for 15 years and was far from being the star of any show, and was never destined to be Juilliard material. But I enjoyed the camraderie I found singing and dancing and the feeling I got expressing myself through song and dance.

We saw many theatre productions from both community theatres and touring Broadway productions. Some of my fondness memories include driving to Portland from our tiny Central Oregon town to see a Broadway Musical. We were lucky to have season tickets and several times a year we made a weekend of it. We'd buy the soundtrack ahead of time and learn the songs and then belt out the choruses as we traveled. I still love the theatre and wish that I would go more.

Last month, Eric, a mutual friend of Ziad and I starred in Santa Ana College's production of Great Expectations. He played as the prisoner and was fantastic!

"Charles Dickens’ literary masterpiece comes to the Phillips Hall stage with a rich and exciting retelling of the famous classic. The timeless story of Pip’s journey from young lad to adult is artfully conveyed. Meet the beloved people that inhabit Pip’s life story, as he comes of age as a compassionate and admirable human being, truly reaching his “great expectations”.

Pathetically, I've never read Charles Dickens. At least I don't remember reading his works. And now, I will!

Ziad and I

Zee and Eric. They are old friends and have been in several bands together. Their gifts are revealed when they are on stage and behind a microphone. They're naturals!

If you live in Southern California check out Santa Ana's Theatre Department Productions. They have a fantastic program and I look forward to seeing many more of their productions!

Movie Date

A Saturday Night Date Night with four under eight! Carly, Lauren, Brandon and Bailey and I headed to the theatre to see Monsters vs. Aliens. I have much respect for any parent who has kids aged 7, 6, 5 and 4! I only, "borrow," these sweetnesses. Full time? Now that would be a job!

Brandon and Carly are best friends and neighbors. In their seven year old minds they are going to, "Get married and live in Alaska and have five dogs." I love to watch them. Brandon is a gentleman and so courteous to Carly. Carly is in charge and is constantly threatening, "I'm going to kiss you!"

Case in point!

Poor Brandon, surrounded by all of these girls. But he loves it.

Check out the grip Carly has on Brandon! And Bailey and Lauren are best buds too. Well, when they want to be. When one isn't bossing the other one around. They will go to Kindergarten in the Fall together.

Sprite, Popcorn and Skittles too... And would you believe that nobody had to go to the bathroom? I was envisioning having to make a grand exit with all of them in tow to go to the restroom and then make another grand entrance.

Now when does that new Hannah Montana movie come out?