the gift of lighting

I came home yesterday around 6:15pm and was so surprised to see how high the Sun still was. As I walked into the house, I got to the most wonderful treat in the lighting through my curtains. I adore soft, afternoon lighting, and with the silhouette of the tree, I felt like it was a little present from Jesus for my romantic heart :)

Watercolor cards

I've been making watercolor cards in an attempt to save some cash (there have been so many birthdays in the past few months!) and also to endeavor to do creative things that don't take a lot of time amidst teaching.

 

 Here are some watercolor cards I have either given or am working on - not spectacular but so much fun! 

Beauty

I love beautiful things. 

In art, nature, photos, blogs - to that end I changed up the blog just a smidgen, as I was a little tired of the power lines, to a background photo of a Tucson morning just before sunrise. 

Also for today, a view of the sky last night. Que hermoso!

First Triple Digits

More to come on the camping trip soon.

But now, of course the weekend I went camping, Tucson reaches 101 degrees (AHHHHH)!!!!!  And it's ONLY APRIL.

Wow Tucson.

i heart mis vecinos

I'm gearing up for a camping trip with my students (YES, you can pray for me).  And while this morning was the peak of my stress, I feel like this evening has been the opposite. 

I went to the campsite straight after school to check things out - it was GORGEOUS!  I love everything about going out there - the drive, listening to music FULL BLAST (check out our awesome new music!), the outline of the mountains against the sky, and the mountains roaring up as you approach the canyon.  Today, I didn't stay long but there were beautiful purple thistles blooming.  Thistles are actually one of my favorite "flowers" (I'll snag a pic this weekend), so I felt like it was a little offering from Jesus saying, "See!  You love it out here!  This trip is going to be great - don't worry.  You've planned, and I will take care of the rest".  

It helped me realize I'm scared of disappointing my students.  I am such a chill, relaxed person - more likely to enjoy walking around and sitting outside more than attempting to summit a mountain or constantly need to be doing something- Hence God's intended assurance that he will take care of the trip.  

THANKS.

Then the best part of the evening is as I was consolidating camping gear in the garage with the door open, 4 of the neighborhood kids decided they should play in my driveway.  :D!  I've talked to them a few times, but because I'm the resident not-great-Spanish-speaking white chick, I'm somewhat of an enigma I think, and a little intimidating. So they started coming around on the scooter, then the football got a little closer, then talking, then "Can we have some water?", and "Can we see your house?", and stories of how they lost balls to Darcy in the backyard.  I felt so bad!  And she was NOT calm when they came in the backyard...humph - dang dog...

But it was such a little gift from Jesus as I was feeling ever-so-lonely today and wanting people just living life around my house so it didn't feel so empty and lifeless.  

Gotta love the creative way he answers our longings...

Gems from last week

This is how often I was home this week...

I've started using my guest room as a painting room and place to spend time with God.  It was also my dad's birthday this week, so it was fun to craft him a small present.

One of my TA's made this - his Mini-Wheat Man - with disregarded staples. Ahhh what high-schoolers do when they're bored... 

I am not proud to say that I showed my students the honey badger Youtube video. I thought they would find it amusing, but I forgot how crass it was and how much high schoolers latch on to things. 

 This shirt appeared shortly after.

Cartel coffee

Can you tell what they're growing at Cartel?!?!? So cute! I tried to grow one...it definitely died

A year with Everest

My dear friends' daughter, Everest (affectionately known as Evie (how do you guys spell that?)) turned 1 year old yesterday. It's hard to believe! We had a lovely time celebrating her, and celebrating our friend Mark who's birthday was also yesterday. She got presents sent in from grandparents round the country, but her favorite present seemed to be a Camelback nalgene from Uncle Steve and Aunt Hannah...so funny the things we end up loving! It was adorable watching her try to carry around her water when she's not fully walking yet :)

Beautiful people right?

I love Daniel's face in this picture!

cactus of redemption

When I went hiking on Sunday, I kept seeing cacti that were all gnarled and rotted, and the thought "that's what we would be like without Jesus" kept running through my brain. Jesus takes us, wrecked and mangled by sin, and makes into something new and beautiful. It'd be like if the cactus went from the one in this picture to a lovely, perfect one. Unfortunately that doesn't happen for the cactus, but it does with us! 

As I get older, I feel like God lets me experience the depth of my sin and ugliness to know how much it cost him to save me. Seeing this cactus on Sunday made me so grateful for the power of Christ and how much he loves me...so I had to take a picture to emphasize the death of the ravaged cactus...

Spring in the desert

Emily and I went to the Tucson Botanical Gardens for an afternoon stroll on Saturday. It was so lovely out! We sat in their "Mexican" garden and smelled the last remaining blooms of an orange tree...so delightful. Also over spring break I went hiking- here are some shots of the plants. I love spring in Tucson (except for the allergies)

Did you see this?

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

It strikes very near and dear to my heart, as my former teacher, Brendan O'Connor, is presenting his Ph.D dissertation on a very similar topic (but instead involving me and my students!) this Friday at UofA. 

WOW TUSD, wow...