WHAT'S IMPORTANT

It's getting closer and closer to Christmas and I still don't have all my shopping done - none of my baking either! We still don't know what's going on with Jeff's work and what days he'll have off. Consequently, I don't know what I can tell people about where I'll be and when...but, I woke up this morning and decided I wasn't going to stress about it. As long as I get to be with my family that's what counts. And I know I'll get to...eventually. So maybe I'll turn my Christmas music up a little - count my blessings (be grateful the good Lord gave me two hands to count them on!) and call it a happy day.

Speaking of happy day - it snowed in Pine Valley on Saturday! SNOW!!! I was so excited. We were on our way to Yuma to help my mom with some stuff - where I can guarantee you there was no snow! And we don't get snow at our house, so you can imagine how excited I was. I had Jeff pull over so I could snap some pictures. Here's a picture of one of our cactus type plants with snow on it.

I did get to take a photography class last Friday...it was how to shoot your Christmas photos in low light. Here's a picture I took of the Christmas tree at my mom's office Christmas party. It was a completely dark room. I was so excited to have been able to capture this shot - before I would have put the flash on and ruined the picture with bright white light.I've really enjoyed all the classes I've been able to take this year - I love photography! When I think that at the beginning of the year I was stuck on the "AUTO" feature all the time (and didn't know a thing about manual focus) - I'm so happy I'm able to play with all that now! If you're in San Diego and want to take classes the people to see are Rod & Robin Deutschmann. They're an amazing husband/wife team - not to mention - A LOT of fun!!!

Well, I've bought Christmas cards - but haven't got them out yet. Please be patient with me...I'm hoping to get them out before Christmas this year. What do you think? Can I do it?! Maybe I'll work on those today. Before I go, I just want to say to all my friends and family - that I've had an incredibly blessed year and I know that you are all a part of it. When I thank the Lord for my blessings you're included in that list. Merry Christmas!

Aubrey

CHRISTMAS (SHOPPING & PHOTOS)

Hello All,

I've been slacking on the blogging front! (Don't have to tell you that though huh?!) My sister recently came down for Thanksgiving. We had such a great time. Jeff's brother, Wayne, invited us to his campground at Lake Jennings for the day - we brought Jenn, Quentin, Rob, Mom & Grandma and we all had a GREAT time!

The following day it was black Friday of course - Jenn & I were up at 1:45 AM and in front of the Wal-mart by 2:20. Here's photos - sorry they're yellow - it was pitch-black outside and we were under a yellow security light.Here's where we were in line. It looks worse than it is. We did pretty good. People though that showed up after 3 AM were not in great shape though.Dude, I love this picture of Jenn. She's such a good sport to pose for all my dorky ideas!Yep, she got me back. (Oh, BTW - yep, that's me eating Chex Mix at 3:30 in the morning because the only thing open was the gas station - not a lot to choose from there.) Anyhow...we did awesome with our shopping this year - we got EVERYTHING on our list - and at the discounted price - we're a powerful team!

My girlfriend let me take pictures of her kids for their Christmas cards so I thought I'd share this one. Aren't they the most GORGEOUS kids you've ever seen! Man - sooooo cute - and funny too. I like this one because it's a bit silly and I think they look darling.

I hope you all are doing well and the sun is shining on you!

Blessings,

Aubrey

BIRTHDAY, FRIENDS, HOMECOMING

My sister and mother came down for my birthday weekend. We had a great day Saturday. We went shopping and out to lunch. We celebrated at Chevy's where I got to have a sip of a Cranberry Margarita - YUM! Here's a shot of Jenn with her drink!

Later that day my friend Crystal came over and we scrapbooked. It was great. I actually got 4 LOs done. I never get that many done at once.

Thursday a friend we met in Canada, Cindy, called - she made it to San Diego. So I picked her and my friend Leah up and we did some shopping and had lunch. It was nice to get to see her again and visit.

Lastly, Addison's school had to reschedule their homecoming game/dance to Saturday due to the fires. Here's some pictures of him and his girlfriend, Katelyn, before the dance.

And here's one of them after the dance. Aren't they cute!

I hope this note finds you all well and happy!

Blessings,

Aubrey

WILD FIRES & HAPPY THINGS

We survived the wild fires! Boy it sure is scary when you see that wall of flames coming over the mountains...this is a picture my friend Kathy sent me. It pretty much speaks for itself. Luckily we, nor anyone we knew, suffered any damage to our homes due to the fire.

Ok, on a happier note...there's an author I love. Her name is SARK. I was on a date with my hubby, (at the bookstore of course), and happened to be flipping through one of her books (that I don't have) and read this little tidbit:

"Be on the lookout for someone that just looks like your friend. The other day I was walking on the beach, and saw a woman with striped socks and a curious hat. I immediately thought that she looked like my friend."

I can relate to that so well. Have any of you ever experienced anything like this? Are you on the lookout for "friends". The Lord blesses us with friends, companions, mentors, etc... I think we should celebrate our friends and the blessings they represent in our lives. If you want a feel-good book any of SARK's are great. They're colorful, full of vibrant colors, and inspirational messages.

I think I'll end on a happy note. Maybe I'll go and get this book today. Maybe I can send it around and share it with my friends when I'm done.

Hugs,
Aubrey

CANADA -- NOT SO WEIRD -- JUST PRETTY

Yesterday after classes Leah and I rented a car and went out to see the town. We'd asked just about everyone we came across what it is we should see while we're here. It was always the same answer - "The Forks!!". So we went to The Forks. It really was beautiful. Apparently it's a spot where two rivers meet. They have neat little shops and restaurants. Here's some shots of us there.This is Leah showing her Tim Horton's cup. We were told it was the best coffee here - that they line up for it. We just had to try it.

Here's a shot Leah took of me near the two rivers. It was such a beautiful day out. The weather was wonderful. We sat on the steps for a bit and just took it all in.This tree was AMAZING. We drove by it on our way to dinner. It was in someone's front yard and just seemed to GLOW. It was sooooo beautiful. I have to apologize to my friend, I think I embarrassed her - I'm pretty sure of this since when I was snapping the picture she was crouched down in the seat so people couldn't see her! Sorry Leah! This is where we had dinner. We both ordered the prime rib. It was the best prime rib either of us has ever had. OMGosh - so good, melt in your mouth good. **I borrowed this photo from their website since I forgot to snap one of my own.**Here's the Welcome sign. Not a great picture, but it's the best I could do, working quickly. This completes your photo tour if Winnipeg!
Blessings,
Aubrey

IMPORTANT NEWS!!!

Most importantly - today is my son's birthday. Happy 14th Birthday Addison. I love you and am very proud of you - you're such a neat kid!
Love,
Mom

WEIRD CANADA THING - DAY 2

Yesterday we had breakfast with a couple of ladies who were so nice. They invited us to spend part of the day with them going to different scrapbook stores - so of course we went! We got to see some really neat scenery, beautiful trees with different colors. We talked about the stuff we say that's different: we say someone's been in a wreck - they say someone's had an accident. I told Terry if someone tells us they've had an accident we think they've wet their pants. Anyhow...we had a good time. Terry stopped by the local "market" so that we could buy some fresh "Gala" apples that had just been brought in fresh from the Orchard. (only .57 cents a pound!!!) I took a picture of their market - it was bigger than CostCo honestly! And she said that was their small market - the bigger one was on the other side of town. Here's a picture - it's gigantic!

See I could hardly make the whole building fit in the picture. Ok, still all this pretty normal and cool. Then Terry tells us we have to put a Looney in if we want a cart and we'll get it back when we bring the cart back. First of all we were wondering what in the heck a Looney was - turns out it's their dollar coin. So yeah, you have a pay a dollar to get the cart, but you get it back when you put the cart back where it belongs.

What a trip huh! Ok breakfast has just arrived so I'm gonna go. Oh, I'll post a picture of the view out of our room. I meant to do that yesterday and forgot.

AWESOME HUH?! It's ok - we're having a great time. Plus we're hoping to go out today after classes and see some of the town. I'll try and post good pictures then.

Love ya!

Aubrey

WEIRD CANADA THING

Ok, we're up. We're getting ready for the day. I ran downstairs to get some coffee and I snagged this picture just as quick as I could. This is right at the edge of the lobby - so there were all sorts of people hanging around and I didn't want them thinking I was the "weird American girl" taking a picture of the vending machine. Check it out!

Looks like a normal vending machine right? Well look under the KitKat bar - would that be a box of TROGANS?! How about under the M&Ms...a box of TAMPAX?! It's the craziest thing I've ever seen. Each time I walk by I crack up! Ok, we're off to have breakfast with some girls. Hope everyone is well. (Note for family-my fasting sugar was 84 when I woke up this morning...so I am taking care of myself!)

Love,

Aubrey

CANADA

Welp, we're here. We made it to Canada. The flights went really well. We ended up being on a tiny commuter plane from Denver to Winnipeg (luckily it was a little less than 2.5 hrs.) It's nice here. Brisk weather. I've seen some weird things already...I promise to tell more later! I'll be back later with pictures and stories!
Blessings,
Aubrey

MY PRECIOUS MUGSY FRIEND

So we went to Yuma overnight Friday, and got home Saturday, to find our dog, Mugsy, had passed away. He was such a good dog. I had a whole list of reasons why I loved him, but here's just a few of the special things about Mugsy:

1) He gave hugs (and always knew when you especially needed one).

2) He talked (loudly!)

3) If you were laying in the floor - he'd come by and rub his head against yours

4) He would go swimming whenever he could

5) He was always in a good mood

6) He was just 3 days older than Addison (he would've been 14 - Oct. 10th)

We got Mugsy from a German Shorthair Pointer Rescue place. He had been abused and starved and the rescue center rescued him. When we adopted him he was still quite thin and very nervous - but he warmed right up to us - and what a blessing he's been in our lives. Lord we thank you for the gift of Mugsy - that we could be a blessing to him and that he was such a blessing to us. Here's some pictures of our good friend.

RELATIONSHIPS

Addison has a new girlfriend (well, actually they've been going out for about a month - he could tell you the exact number of days!) She's the sweetest girl. Her name is Katelyn. I snapped some pictures of them together - I thought I'd share one.Here's another picture of a good relationship - me and my sister. She's one of my dearest friends. This was taken last weekend at Disneyland. Hope today finds you happy & healthy!

Blessings,

Aubrey

IT'S ALL IN HOW YOU LOOK AT IT

Does this picture scare you? Or when you look at it does it look like a "gift" a "blessing"?

I got news yesterday...my sugar levels have been high - even though I've been sticking to my diet and taking the medicine I was prescribed. So I've been placed on insulin. This isn't a scary picture for me and I'll tell you why. Anything that is going to get my levels into a normal, HEALTHY range -- I'm all for it. Shots do not scare me, and never have, LUCKILY. So I was told I have to have one shot, every night, for a month - then I go back and see how I'm doing. If my sugar is down - and has stayed down consistently, then I may get to go back on oral medication. That's my prayer! I'm hoping to only have to go this route for as short a time as possible. I find it truly ironic that I decide to lose weight, get healthy, and then I develop diabetes. Although my doctor tells me it was really a blessing - he said, "Think of how miserable you'd be with all that weight back." TRUE! I know there are blessings, and silver linings, I'm grateful for my gifts. This medicine is a gift that will hopefully propel me to better health. I plan on taking advantage of it! At least this is how I choose to look at it! :)

Blessings to each of you!

Aubrey

That's It, I'm Old Now

Well today marked the day I turned old. My "BABY" went off to high school today. No hugs and kiss on the check for mom. Just a "Hurry up dad, I don't want to be late." And he was gone in a flash. He was so excited. Except of course when I made him pose of our traditional first day of school pictures.

I couldn't get a smile out of him. He really didn't want to do this this year. He was anxious to get to school (we'll see how long that carries on huh!?). He's gotten so tall over the summer and football really helped him to slim down. He loves football. He's been told he's going to be a starter. He's very excited about that. I went to watch his practice yesterday and they had two guys try and tackle Addison. They couldn't budge him. He was standing there and they couldn't move him. Another time they had two guys try to keep him from crossing a line and Addison broke through them and made it past the line and all I heard was the coach shouting, "Yeah! Way to power through Harns!" Cracked me up. Addis walked back to the line all puffed up. So fun - can't wait for the games to start. Anyway, I'll leave you with another shot of him!

Hugs,

Aubrey

Bumper Card Society

I've been tagged by my friends Vanda and Pokettiger. Now my job is to also ask 5 more people to participate. I nominate: Krissie, Ginnie, Johanna, Melisa, and Melissa. This sounds like a lot of fun - hope everyone will enjoy participating!

The full story behind the Global Bumper Card Society can be read here. Here is the basic idea though: 1) Send ONE card to someone you know within 7 days! (family, friends, associates, cyber people, etc.) ANYONE!!! Doesn't matter who... Can you imagine the smile on their face when they open their mailbox and see a card from you? 2) Tag (yes, I know, but this is the only way to spread this) 5 people you know to do the same thing (Tag means tag them to send their own cards to their own people). 3) Proudly display this on your blog to spread a little sunshine and pass it on.

What Can You Find 30 Minutes From Home?

I've gotta say, I love living here in San Diego. Everything you could want is within a 30 minute drive. Yesterday we drove out to Jacumba and I got to take some really nice desert pictures. We were only out for a bit, I got tired and we came home, but I captured some really great shots.First we came across this building off to the side of the road. There wasn't a sign, but I think it was probably the first school house in Jacumba. It stands next to the existing school now. What a really cool building!Then we kept driving and I got this just general desert shot.By zooming in a bit you can see that we have mountains here that are just enormous piles of rocks (I know, most mountains are!) but I thought this was a cool shot - you can see the cars going through on the freeway there.As I was getting back in the car from taking the previous picture I noticed this little beauty. Isn't she pretty with the sun shining on her?!So we went down the road a piece and came across these wildflowers. They were so pretty I just had to take a picture of them.We went up to McCain Valley and were going to go look at the views of Carrizo Gorge and found this cave on the way. I was so excited. My dad and uncle used to take us out and drive around the desert when I was growing up and we'd find caves and different things and this reminded me of that. Cool cave huh!! This was taken near the end of our ride. This is the overlook to Carrizo Gorge. What you can't see behind Jeff in the bottom of the valley (or mid-way down the valley) is a set of train tracks on stilts that go through a set of tunnels - VERY COOL! What a lovely day. Tomorrow I'll show you some more pictures 3o minutes from home.
Hugs,
Aubrey

Late Breaking News!!!!

Our chickens that we mail-ordered back in February, just laid their first eggs today! That's right, we have eggs!!! Only three today, but three on the first day isn't bad. We have 26 chickens and I'm sure within the next week or two they'll all be producing. Yippee. I'm so excited. Quentin (my nephew) is here this week on vacation - he came running in, "Auntie Aub, look, the chickens laid an egg and I went in and got it!" I had to snap his picture. He was just as excited as I was. Here's some photos...

We're back to having fresh eggs - they really are the very best. Oh, and since there's only 3 of us - and we'll be getting 26 EGGS A DAY - if you save your egg cartons and come by I'll fill them for free!

Have a blessed day!

Aubrey

Catch Up

Well not too much going on...(Do all my posts start off that way?). There's always plenty of stuff going on, I'm almost never home, or have time to loaf, but it's just run of the mill stuff that folks do everyday and no one would have any interest in reading...you know...yep, thought ya did!

Ok, so I ordered my passport renewal - waiting on that - then we can purchase our flight tickets to Canada. Yippee!!! My girlfriend, Krissie, is coming down from Colorado at the end of August and then we're going to go stay at a fancy resort in Phoenix for a scrapbooking event. Yippee!!!

My last photography class in this session is Saturday - how can it be that time already? I need to ask the guy if we can buy a year pass (like at Sea World) where he'll just promise to meet up with us every weekend and teach us new stuff. Think he'll go for it? One can dream...

Addison graduated 8th grade Friday. He started high school summer school and football practices Monday. Man - he only had the weekend for a break - how bad does that stink? He doesn't think so though. He's just so excited to be playing high school football. He's such a cool kid. Gotta love him! Here's a shot I took of him at practice yesterday.

I shot this next picture after they finished one of their drills. Addison and this boy, Sager, walked up to one another and put their arms up and hit them.
As soon as they did, all the other boys standing around came and did it too.

I guess that's it for today. I hope everyone is well.
Blessings,
Aubrey

Photo Prompt

I thought I'd share my photo prompt here today. This is my dear friend, Chief Forest Eagle. Chief walks two-miles every Tuesday morning to come volunteer at the church. He vacuums and cleans. He said the Lord told him to do it as a labor of love. He's so faithful to be here every Tuesday. He'll be 60 years old next month. When I asked if I could take his picture he said he wasn't really tired, but he had worked hard. That's probably the best "tired" I know of. Bless the Chief.

Short Post

I just thought I'd play a little catch up. Not too much has been going on. Addison had his 8th grade graduation dance - the Harbor Cruise. He and his friend Tyler had so much fun! They were all excited - shirts and ties - they both shaved! Here's a couple of quick shots of them.A close up of those clean, close shaves!
How cute are these two? Gotta love them both! They both graduate 8th grade on Friday morning at 8:30 AM. So proud of them!

Photography class this week was all about Depth of Field. We did a couple of trick pictures.

Sorry, it's a bit blurry!

These were fun - I better get out there and practice this week! Just thought I'd say a quick "Hi" to everyone.

Hugs,

Aubrey