Blessings

Is my life changing before my very eyes? Yes it is. When did it change? Oh.. a couple days ago.. Ok so it's not ALL changing, it just feels like it is. It's changing just enough to satisfy that wanderlust I get sometimes.

I was offered a job by someone I know this last weekend. He and his wife work in a real estate office which is actually his business. They need someone for about four hours a day doing office work, and here's the best part: 9 dollars an hour. It's a lot better than what I'm making now, and it's way less stress, and my boss is a christian. I told my boss at the preschool today.. thing is, I'm the third girl who'll be leaving after this summer (and another girl has been considering it..) So I felt kinda bad, but it had to be done. I'll miss my kids, but they are almost all leaving anyways to go to kindergarten.

Other big change (probably..): I'm leaving NAU for CCC. It's soo much less expensive! The education is not much different, most of the professors there are also professors at NAU; it doesn't make any difference job-wise after I graduate, and if I need to go back to NAU all of my credits will transfer. I feel way at peace about it in a way I've never felt about NAU.

I'll also be moving into the townhouse in about a month (of course, this isn't really a new thing). I'll be living by myself for the first time.. kind of looking forward to it, kind of apprehensive, but mostly excited actually. It's a much nicer place, two bedrooms as opposed to none, and it's in a MUCH nicer neighborhood :D.. AND it's much cheaper! woohoo!

Ok, switching gears now.. I turned 19 this week. not a whole lot different from 18, but it does sound a little better. My friends threw me a "surprise" party last night (totally knew about it..) and it was fun. I got a scrapbook from one of my friends and I am very much looking forward to becoming a scrapbook junkie (if that's what it's called).

Well it's been fun, really it has, but I must be off. I just have to say.. OH the weight that is off my shoulders! This is good...

this week

There is an older couple who come sit outside the coffee shop every once in a while. The man is blind; the lady reads him a devotional and they sit and talk for a while. I just thought it was the sweetest thing.

The coffee shop where I work is owned by a church/ministry. I haven't actually been to the church yet. It's very different from what I'm used to; even at work I've been out of my comfort zone a few times, not that that's a bad thing at all. Today the pastr came in for quite a while and some kids were there hanging out so they were all talking. Pastor Steve decided we should all pray, and we did it in a way I don't think I've ever done it before. He just asked us to think about what was going on in our lives, and then to believe that God would take care of it. After a minute he prayed aloud and thanked God for taking care of it. I liked that.

I can't help but think that the world would be a completely different place if only christians would believe that what they ask of God will be answered. I can't think of any place in the Bible where someone prayed that they would see God's will. There probably are several that do, but it seems like more often than not they already knew God's will.

We went to Williams for the fourth of July. The parade was very long this year. It started off with the now traditional skydivers (4 this year) which was pretty fun, and then the procession began. There was something new this year: the classic tractors association. About 20 tractors (20!) rolled past us at a rate of 2 miles an hour... oy. And what's really funny about that is Williams is not even close to being a farming type place. The other outstanding thing in the parade, the Dancing Grannies. Yes, they are grannies, and they dance (while wearing costumes). pretty much fantastic.

After the parade we had dinner (at the newly remodeled Pine Country) and of course we had their world-famous pie as well. Then we walked around downtown for a little while, and stopped in at Scott's camera place to see Buff. You may remember my blog about Buff the mayoral candidate. He now has his own shirts, and a local artist painted a portait of him in a suit. Buff is a dog. (people in town are rather cynical about the small town politics there...)

Kinder Garden

A short, funny quote from one of my preschool kids :) Malia (another teacher): What should I have for dinner? Me: oo soup salad and breadsticks at Olive Garden! Evan James (5 year old kid in my class): Oh Miss Hannah, I'm going to the Garden! Me: Really? (thinking he meant he ate there... silly me..) Evan: Yea, the Kinder Garden!! Me:Wow! (hahahahaahahahah)

Storms and Fires

So here I am in the library sitting in my chair (yes, I have a chair) enjoying the silence that I come here to enjoy :). It's raining. Storming, actually. All of a sudden I hear a roar of rain coming down on the roof. I love thunderstorms! Don't get me wrong, I love our blue Arizona skies, but really, I long for a good storm every once in a while.

This one just happened to come at the perfect time too. It's been a rather thunderstormy week in my life. Nothing happened, just every so often I find myself going down that dark hole and I have to work my way out of it. Well, it's starting to take a toll on me:physically and emotionally.. and spiritually. But God is good, is He not? His grace is amazing, and His love powerful.

Thunderstorms are such an experience of His power. It's like Him showing us, Look, I can make it rain down on you, refresh you, quench your thirst, and I can do it in powerful and gentle ways.

I went to the worship service at the Canyon on Sunday with a couple of my friends. The wind changed directions that day and began blowing the smoke from the North RIm fire in our direction. The ash falling on our heads looked like snow. We drove over to the rim to look at the smoke and the whole Canyon was full of it. The sun was deep red, and we could vaguely make out the outlines of the edges in the Canyon. It was beautiful even though it was there because of a huge fire (over 15,000 acres now). Yet another display of God's power, a more formidable one to me. I'd much rather have a thunderstorm than a fire of course. If there weren't fires though, the forest would be overgrown. The more undergrowth, the stronger the fire. The more junk there is, the more it needs cleaning out, and the more painful the process. Thank God for his Grace, even if it comes as a storm. And pray for me this weekend if you happen to remember it. Thanks!

summer is here

It's the first day of summer today! It felt like it too; those in Phoenix may scoff, but it was HOT here today. It was, and I think it's because the elevation here is higher and the sun is more intense, but it was hot.. don't laugh..

The first day of summer.. another season is upon us. Truth be told, I'm looking forward to the fall. That is my favorite season, but summer is wonderful of course. The fire season is terrible already, there are 3 fires that I know of around Flag right now. They are closing the forests and lakes and trails and even some of the national monuments (of course not the Grand Canyon, that would be unthinkable). No more hiking, camping, etc. We are all in mourning. *moment of silence*

I was able to finish studying early tonight, so I now I'm relaxing and watching Pride and Prejudice for the bazillionth time. I'm trying to figure out why I like it so much. Aside from the music and scenery and quirky characters, it's rather a slow paced and relatively uneventful movie about a family.. well, I couldn't tell you why it's so good, it just is.

Well I guess I'm not in much of a writing mood, so that's all for tonight.