Pacific Coast Rest-Stop

[Allison]

Congrats, Laura

Thank you, Barbie and Shann. The idea for this piece came to me as I was researching Missouri and the Civil War era. During the war, the president ordered the full evacuation of 6 counties on the Kansas/Missouri border. From reading some of the reports and eyewitness accounts of this atrocity, the story formed as I imagined what it would have been like to be part of that mass exodus.

You know, being from Missouri, I am fully convinced that we have not recovered from what I half jokingly call "Missouri Civil War Syndrome." We haven't yet recovered from the confusion of being a slave holding Union state.... Like I said, I mean that only half jokingly. I'd be happy to explain, if you want me to.

Amy, I'm sorry the MRI was so horrible. I hope it at least gives you some good answers!

[b24bomb]

Someone asked a while ago about how Lauren (Wren/ b24bomb) was doing and why she hasn't been here in so long. I knew, but felt like I couldn't say without gossiping. However, I just discovered she's been blogging once in a while and was brave enough to be open and share her story and her struggles. Here's her first post explaining things, and then if you click in the side column or on the name of the blog you can find more recent posts. http://b24bomb.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-life.html I'm sure she'd love your support through commenting. I don't think she can get online very often, but hopefully will see our comments eventually.

She actually lived with my family--well, out in our studio apartment above the shop at our old house--for a few months as we tried to offer support. Sounds like this location has much better tools for help and that it's an awesome place.

Yes, it does, Amy.

I can get on every day, some days more than most, but I can't get on places like Facebook, etc., and my time is very limited. I'm actually surprised I can come on here. It's not that this is a restrictive place, but that we are going through a lot of healing and bringing up some nasty junk so computer time is a huge distraction. Many days I only have just enough time to read my email.

I will say that my life has taken a huge turn-around. I've experienced more freedom from many things than I ever dreamed was possible and it's all because of God. I now have three months left of the Program. My graduation ceremony (they call it "Jubilee" here) is not until April, but I'm going to apply for their GRAD program which gives me another year. They've asked me to do a video interview to tell my story, and I've already done the interview portion of it. Now I'm waiting to do the "B" roll and it will go live on their website after editing. When that happens, I will post a link here and probably my blog as long as it's kosher with everyone involved.

So many things to talk about and so little time! Now that I know I can come here, I will try to come at least once a week to update, but please give me grace if I miss once or twice. I love you all and I miss you!

(P.S. I heard about the conference being here in Portland next year. I'm signed up on the list!)

[Allison]

Lauren! It's great to see you back!

[JoyAnn]

Lauren!!! glad to see you on again and that thinks are improving and your life is being turned around by God!



I have two questions for everyone actually, so I am in the process of figuring out my new series and getting all the plotting laid out for all four books. Because they all run off each other and I am the type that has to have to whole thing figured out before started a book and before starting NaNo. And because they have the crazy wackado names and crazy wackado mother and traditions Autumn's book will cover the whole Autumn season up until the first day of Winter, and then Winter's book will start a few weeks before the first day of Winter and then end on the first day of Spring and so forth.

(I promise you guy and getting to the questions.) And their crazy tradition is that on the first day of each season they spend the day together as a family doing cool, fun, cheap activities together celebrating the daughter/sister of that has that namesake of the season. (hopefully that all made sense) So, on the first day of Summer they all go on a picnic in the park, Winter they make Jam. I have an Idea for one but I wasn't sure which season it would be better for, and I am at a total lost for the last one so here is my questions: Would Candle making be better for Spring or Autumn. And any idea on another thing they could do as a family that is cheap and is something that they would enjoy as adults as well as children?


PLEEEASE help me!

[Allison]

Lauren!!! glad to see you on again and that thinks are improving and your life is being turned around by God!



I have two questions for everyone actually, so I am in the process of figuring out my new series and getting all the plotting laid out for all four books. Because they all run off each other and I am the type that has to have to whole thing figured out before started a book and before starting NaNo. And because they have the crazy wackado names and crazy wackado mother and traditions Autumn's book will cover the whole Autumn season up until the first day of Winter, and then Winter's book will start a few weeks before the first day of Winter and then end on the first day of Spring and so forth.

(I promise you guy and getting to the questions.) And their crazy tradition is that on the first day of each season they spend the day together as a family doing cool, fun, cheap activities together celebrating the daughter/sister of that has that namesake of the season. (hopefully that all made sense) So, on the first day of Summer they all go on a picnic in the park, Winter the make Jam. I have an Idea for one but I wasn't sure which season it would be better for, and I am at a total lost for the last one so here is my questions: Would Candle making be better for Spring or Autumn. And any idea on another thing they could do as a family that is cheap and is something that they would enjoy as adults as well as children?


PLEEEASE help me!

See, I would think of making Jam as more of a spring thing, personally... fruit and all that. I see candle making are more of a winter thing, because of Christmas. For Autumn, I'd do apple picking. For spring, maybe planing a garden.

By the way, I have a friend who used to live in Puyallup, WA!

[Sparrow]

Wren!!!! So glad to see you here. Cool you can get on the site. Look forward to more updates. What will the GRAD program entail? How long until you know if you are accepted? Congrats on graduating in a few months! Yay that you will come to the FW conference. Will be fun for us to show everyone around our beautiful area.

I tried a new topical pain cream last night that my specialist has compounded just for her patients, and it seemed to help. I wasn't in much more pain than usual today even after everything yesterday.

We had a staff meeting at the college. My boss grew out her hair over the summer and I don't recognize her. This is one of the worst times I've had with my face blindness, though thankfully I managed to avoid embarrassing myself. But even after I knew it was my boss, I couldn't find any recognition anywhere in my brain. I don't see her like all the time, but have met with her several times, but my brain apparently lost the file of what she looks like. I recognized a few co-workers who I've only met like once or twice, but yeah, even after the whole hour meeting my brain couldn't find any recognition of the boss and had to make a new file for her face. So weird....

See, I would think of making Jam as more of a spring thing, personally... fruit and all that.

Except that fruit and berries haven't grown yet in the spring. They aren't ripe yet until summer or fall. Jam sounds like a good Autumn thing, and candles a good winter thing. Another autumn option would be a corn maze and hay ride. S'mores and a bon fire would be fun for any of the seasons. And I don't think it's a silly idea--it sounds like a great family tradition!

[Allison]

I tried a new topical pain cream last night that my specialist has compounded just for her patients, and it seemed to help. I wasn't in much more pain than usual today even after everything yesterday.

...

See, I would think of making Jam as more of a spring thing, personally... fruit and all that.

Except that fruit and berries haven't grown yet in the spring. They aren't ripe yet until summer or fall. Jam sounds like a good Autumn thing, and candles a good winter thing. Another autumn option would be a corn maze and hay ride. S'mores and a bon fire would be fun for any of the seasons. And I don't think it's a silly idea--it sounds like a great family tradition!

Glad to hear the pain cream seems to be helping some!

And good point about the fruit not being ripe yet. I didn't think of that. So yeah. Jam could work for fall. And I love the S'mores and bonfire idea. Just add in a hay ride, and you've got my favorite fall activity from my youth group years at church!

<--Realizes she just became "active" on this thread, and rather suddenly at that!

[Shann]

First LAUREN!!! i WAS THAT SOMEBODY Amy WAS TALKING ABOUT. I've MISSED YOU AND HAVE BEEN PRAYING. i DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE YOU WERE HAVING A TOUGH TIME UNTIL i ASKED Amy ABOUT YOU AND SHE SAD SHE DIDN'T WANT TO BREAK ANY CONFIDENCES SO i respected that and have been praying a lot for you! Sorry about the cap lock but I am really excited to see you and a tiny bit lazy to fix it.

Allison you feel free to become an active participant on here any time. We welcome all kinds of oddballs! I live in Western NY and have been here almost since the beginning. And except for Pup of course am one of the oldest oddballs here!

Tiara, I'm happy you are doing NaNo again but somewhat sad cuz all of you NaNoers will go into hibernation and leave me here all along with the other oddballs. But as for canning or making jam, that would be a late summer thing or a early Fall thing. But usually, at least around here it happens in August or so. I do like the idea of picking apples for fall. Another thing we have done is have a bonfire. It's a nice way to say goodbye to summer and hello to Autumn. I'm not sure where your story is set but how about star-gazing for the start of summer. That's one of my favorite things to do and when the kids were little we would take sleeping bags and lie out on the trampoline and try to identify things like the big dipper, Mercury, Mars, Orion's belt, Pleiades (the seven sisters) I think candle making would be great for winter or perhaps they could make homemade Christmas presents or ornaments. Another neat family thing would be to make fleece throws where you cut fringes out and then tie them together. I use it as a prayer blanket and each time I tie a knot I'd say a prayer for the person getting it. Spring would be a good time to start growing plants inside like tomato seeds until the danger of frost is goner then you could transplant them in the garden.

I hope everyone else is doing well. Lyd came home for the weekend but she is spending much of her time with her two best friends. They are 5 and 2! Maybe that explains why she had a hard time finding friends in college! But the more I think about it college students are a lot like preschoolers I can't believe M will be married in one month and 5 days. Gulp!~

I miss a lot of you who have real lives and haven't been on as much. Holly, Shelly, Becky, Ivy, Kate, and Jay hasn't been around as much either has he? Well, I'll take anyone who will love me! I'm not too picky. What's the saying oddballs can't be choosers?

[b24bomb]

Wren!!!! So glad to see you here. Cool you can get on the site. Look forward to more updates. What will the GRAD program entail? How long until you know if you are accepted? Congrats on graduating in a few months! Yay that you will come to the FW conference. Will be fun for us to show everyone around our beautiful area.

The GRAD Program is essentially a paid internship within the organization here. The purpose is to get your feet wet in the workplace while still being able to work more deeply on yourself in a safe (ie. Godly) environment. The position I will be applying for is in their Development department which is their media communications department. This is where they work on the website, blog, newsletter, PR, and such. The very thought of it excites me. They're actually creating the position (well, it's not definite yet, but there is great interest in it) for me because I'm the first to express any interest in it. I have to apply and interview for it just like any job out there. And if that one doesn't work out, there are other positions. And I can't apply until I finish this program, but I don't have to wait until Jubilee, either.

First LAUREN!!! i WAS THAT SOMEBODY Amy WAS TALKING ABOUT. I've MISSED YOU AND HAVE BEEN PRAYING. i DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE YOU WERE HAVING A TOUGH TIME UNTIL i ASKED Amy ABOUT YOU AND SHE SAD SHE DIDN'T WANT TO BREAK ANY CONFIDENCES SO i respected that and have been praying a lot for you! Sorry about the cap lock but I am really excited to see you and a tiny bit lazy to fix it.

Thank you, Shann, so much! I've missed all of you, too. I AM trying to keep up with my blog, but this last month has been crazy with all kinds of things, and most of them internal between God and me. If you want to pray for something specifically for me, I could really use prayer about these last three months. I am going to be facing something very hard, but once I get through it I know I will be free of SO many things. So strength, endurance, trust, peace, and comfort are what I will need during this time.

Ok, my time is up. I love you and I'll try to get back on here later this week. Don't have too much fun, ok?

[JoyAnn]

See, I would think of making Jam as more of a spring thing, personally... fruit and all that. I see candle making are more of a winter thing, because of Christmas. For Autumn, I'd do apple picking. For spring, maybe planing a garden.

Except that fruit and berries haven't grown yet in the spring. They aren't ripe yet until summer or fall. Jam sounds like a good Autumn thing, and candles a good winter thing. Another autumn option would be a corn maze and hay ride. S'mores and a bon fire would be fun for any of the seasons. And I don't think it's a silly idea--it sounds like a great family tradition!

Tiara, I'm happy you are doing NaNo again but somewhat sad cuz all of you NaNoers will go into hibernation and leave me here all along with the other oddballs. But as for canning or making jam, that would be a late summer thing or a early Fall thing. But usually, at least around here it happens in August or so. I do like the idea of picking apples for fall. Another thing we have done is have a bonfire. It's a nice way to say goodbye to summer and hello to Autumn. I'm not sure where your story is set but how about star-gazing for the start of summer. That's one of my favorite things to do and when the kids were little we would take sleeping bags and lie out on the trampoline and try to identify things like the big dipper, Mercury, Mars, Orion's belt, Pleiades (the seven sisters) I think candle making would be great for winter or perhaps they could make homemade Christmas presents or ornaments. Another neat family thing would be to make fleece throws where you cut fringes out and then tie them together. I use it as a prayer blanket and each time I tie a knot I'd say a prayer for the person getting it. Spring would be a good time to start growing plants inside like tomato seeds until the danger of frost is goner then you could transplant them in the garden.

Yeah I think I might change the jam making from winter to fall and then have the candle making as a winter thing. But I don't know what to do for spring. I don't want them planting anything or doing anything that has to do with a green thump and garden because the mother is a florist and she is always plating and caring for flowers and the kids often get involved so I want these special days to be something different, I was also wanting it to be something outside considering the jam and candle making are inside things.

[JesusPuppy]

BOMBER!!!! Hiya kid. Long time no see. What was this rumor I heard about you moving off to Kansas to look for little people..? Just a badly relayed rumor, no doubt.

(Speaking of little people) Hiya Allison, I knew you would get drawn in here.

[Shann]

Pup now do I need to get out my rolled up piece of newspaper?! If you just got an unexplained chill it was cuz I sent you THE LOOK! If the look doesn't work Allison, let me know! But I do have to admit it was pretty funny. teehee just don't tell Pup I said that.

Okay Tiara spring things that are outdoory. How about bird watching? I was mesmerized this year by a pair of Killdeer birds. They totally fascinate me and I was out there watching just about everyday. They lay their eggs in gravel and the eggs look like stones and are super hard to find. But if you get close to the nest the adult bird tweets and screeches and puts its wing out where there are some red feathers and it hobbles away from the nest trying to make the predators think it was injured and then it flies off. It works on animals really well because the dogs and cats would go after the bird. Even after the baby hatched the mom still does it. I've never paid attention to it before but it is pretty awesome. Amy told me her father will get bright orange spray paint and make a circle around the nest so the cars don't run it over so maybe they could do something like look for the killdeer's nests and mark it with spray paint so the eggs don't get smooshed by cars or people. (I stepped on an egg once and the dog got a hold of a baby once and I felt awful. I didn't know they were there at first.
Another thing could be going out and picking up garbage by the road. It would kind of tie in with Earth Day which I think is in April but around here after the snow melts, all of the debris from winter is out and needs to be picked up along the road.

Or maybe they could breed baby bunnies. Build a hutch for them and each spring get a male and female and breed them for pets or if it fits your story for meat.

Maybe they could do some sort of community service. Kind of like Christmas Caroling but instead Spring Caroling and go to nursing homes and hospitals and sing Easter and spring songs.

Another idea would be to crochet baby bonnets for the newborns at the local hospital. That could be something they do all winter then on the first gay od Spring take the hats that are bright spring colors and give them to the OB floor.

[Allison]

Hey, at work at one of my offices for awhile, I was sometimes referred to as "the short white lady" by clients. I'm used to short jokes. The only reason I'm no longer "the short white lady" is that there are now two of us.

[JoyAnn]

I have actually looked online for ideas too, but the only ones I saw that I liked were going to the zoo to see the baby animals that are born in the spring, going hiking or biking or horseback riding and pottery but that last one isn't an outside thing, but I kind of really like the idea of raising their own bunnies, or chicks even though I think bunnies would be better. not sure what I am going to do though...

[b24bomb]

BOMBER!!!! Hiya kid. Long time no see. What was this rumor I heard about you moving off to Kansas to look for little people..? Just a badly relayed rumor, no doubt.

(Speaking of little people) Hiya Allison, I knew you would get drawn in here.

Hiya, Pup! Well, the rumor was slightly off - it was Oklahoma, not Kansas. And it wasn't to look for little people, but I did meet some little people while I was there. Spent a few months there, but decided to come back to the NW. I'm here to stay until GOD moves me somewhere else.