Seaside

As I get older, I find I don't need many things. There isn't even that much that I want anymore. Except for clothes of course! I always want more clothes! I have plenty of nicknacks and books and plants in the garden. And every bit of it requires cleaning and maintenance.

So for my birthday the last couple of years, I've wanted to go somewhere or do something. This year, it was the coast. I was born and raised in San Diego and didn't realize what I had until it was gone. Oh, we get plenty of sunshine here in Seattle. Lots of water around here too. But the one thing Seattle doesn't have (besides extended family) is the ocean. And boy do I miss it!

So this year, we drove to Seaside Oregon for the day. Packed up the car early in the morning and drove 4 hours, through gorgeous scenery, over the Astoria-Megler Bridge and into Seaside.

 

 

  

 

We even passed a ship wreck.

 

The northwest has had 80 and 90 degree temps for weeks now, even months. So what do they forecast the Sunday we decide to go to the coast? Rain. Thunder. Lightning. I almost cancelled the trip but just felt peace from the Lord that it would turn out okay. I finally stopped watching the weather forecasts and tried to just trust the Lord.

We arrived in Seaside at about 1:00 and decided to go get lunch before heading down to the beach. As we're crossing the street it begins to rain. Just as we stepped inside the restaurant, it poured!! The water came down in buckets! People were running for cover and we were so thankful to be inside!

 

  

We ate at The Crabby Oyster and the food was delicious! By the time we finished eating, the rain had stopped and the sun was peeking through the clouds.

 

Down to the water!!

It was quite a walk to get close to the water, but I didn't care! I wanted to see those waves crashing on the shore!

 

  

 

 

After a couple of hours, we decided to do a little shopping so we packed everything up and headed back to the car. Beth had a hard time walking all that way in the sand. Her back hurt and her legs were beginning to hurt but I told her it was good exercise and very healthy to walk in sand. 

I don't think she cared. :)

Seaside is a tourist town, and we found the carousel, there were souvenir shops, arcade games, we really had a wonderful day.

 

The ride home was relaxing and fun.

 

This is the view from the bridge.

 

 

Beth brought her ipod and we plugged it into the car speakers. We all sang along to Disney theme songs, worship music and musicals almost all the way home.

Family, the ocean and music. A perfect way to spend any day. 

(And the Lord was right. The day turned out great!)

The Dermatologist Shrugged His Shoulders

Our church has been in a week of prayer and fasting. One of the things I gave up was social media. I still got on the computer to check email, our bank account, etc. but there's been no Pinterest, no Viral Nova, no blogging, Facebook Tetris, Apod... it's amazing how much time I waste spend on this computer!

Now, I truly don't believe I'm wasting time when I blog, but that's about the only thing. Sometimes with Facebook I connect with friends and family, but usually I just scroll. I had so much time last week! Time to read, to clean house, to WRITE! I forgot how much I enjoy writing! I actually sent out 5 letters by snail mail last week. I called my mother-in-law. I read books. I actually found myself standing in the middle of the kitchen looking around and thinking, 'My kitchen hasn't been this clean in a long time. What else should I do?'

Plus, we had two prayer meetings a day all week, one at 6AM and one at 7PM. They were powerful and refreshing and inspiring. Something our church really needed.

But now the week is over and I can blog again! And of course, the week I don't blog is filled with lots of adventures! I'll start with the small post first. :)

 Beth has had a bump on her head for a few months now. Well, at least I noticed it a few months ago. I'll spare you the pictures, but it's fairly long, right on the top of her head and it seems to be slowly growing. At first I thought maybe she wasn't rinsing all the cream rinse out of her hair (her hair sticks to parts of the bump) so I spent some time with her going over the procedures for washing her hair, but after watching her, she's doing everything right.

It almost looks like cradle cap, that dry scalp stuff that babies sometimes get? But when I tried to scrape off a little bit, it began to bleed. Okay, time to call the doctor. Unfortunately our family doctor didn't know what it was. She took a small culture and tested it for bacteria or fungus but those tests came back negative. She referred us to a dermatologist.

We went to him on Monday. He looked at the bump then said he'd be right back. He returned with a magnifying glass-type-thing and put it directly on her head. After looking for a few seconds, he stepped back, put the magnifying glass down, folded his arms and shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea what it is." He asked me how long she's had it; if it's changed at all since I first saw it... every answer I gave was met with, "Hmm. I really have no idea." He suggested we get a biopsy done.

That kind of made me nervous. He's a man who has extensively studied the skin and everything that involves the skin, and he has no idea what this thing is. She says it doesn't hurt or itch and it doesn't seem to bother her at all. But it looks like Beth has a biopsy in her future. 

Ho Hum

A week has passed but there's still not a whole lot to write about. It's been fairly normal around here:

Sharaya and Allie come for dinner on Mondays now instead of Thursdays. (Sharaya has a second job and Mondays just work better.)

Diana was house sitting for a friend last week but she's home again.

Everything's the same for Chuck, Beth and I.

Yep, pretty boring around here. :)

Beth writing the memory verse on the board for our Sunday school class.

The Mountain is Out!

Whenever you hear someone from Seattle say 'the mountain is out', they're referring to Mt Rainier. On a clear day, she towers over the city like a momma duck watching over her baby chicks.

We all anticipate this view as we head south on I-5.

It never ceases to amaze us.

For Sale

It's been a quiet week. I watched Allie last Saturday, we went grocery shopping, colored with her colored pencils, blew bubbles and just hung out all day.

Seattle's been in a heat wave for the last few weeks. Temps in the 80's and 90's with no air conditioning! But we go shopping and out to eat (definitely don't want to turn on the oven!) and we set up a lot of fans when we're home.

I went to a friend's sons graduation party. He's also leaving in two weeks to join the Army. My friend C made dozens of cupcakes with camouflage cupcake liners, there was fruit salad, steak kabobs... enough food for more than 80 people! C really knows how to party!

I'm helping this week at a huge 'yard sale' at our church. It's to help raise money for our men's recovery home. This sale takes place in our gym plus outside in one of the parking lots. People have been bringing their stuff for weeks, there's thousands of items! I'll be helping in the hotdog stand for a couple hours then heading inside to help wherever needed.

C took these today after they finished setting up.

 

 

 

It's gonna be a fun weekend!

 

Zoom Zoom

I've been playing with the zoom on my camera.

 

 

 

One In a Million - The Weekend in Pictures

 

On Friday Diana and I took Allie to the beach.

 

 

 

 

I bet the streets of our home town looked a lot like the streets of yours on Saturday!

And like the streets of a million small towns across America this weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

Did Captain America come to your town too?

 

 

 

 

Sharaya drove and Diana & Allie rode in a car from the dealership they work for.

It's hard to tell, but they're in there! :)

 

 

 

 

The view from our seats!

 

 

 

 

 

Then on Sunday, Beth offered to take us out to her favorite restaurant, Old Country Buffet.

(She calls it Pass The Plate.)

 

 

 

 

Chuck, Beth and I had this morning off (Monday) so we went out for yogurt and then down to the water front for a while.  

 

 

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!