Lost...Again!

I will be the first to admit that I am directionally challenged, even with the aid of a GPS and my own personal Sherpa!  This problem is accentuated by the fact that I come from a long line of master navigators that could tell you from which direction they came and which direction they were headed, even if they were blind-folded and dropped in the middle of the Amazon in a brown paper bag.  My dad would get so frustrated with me when he would give me directions (go South on University) and I would ask if that was towards the mall or towards Wendy's!

I am unable to count the number of times I have been off course since coming to Los Angeles.  Even with the GPS, I get lost .  Every day.  The first week in LA, I was lost in Compton which is a part of town that the Bloods and the Crips consider their "turf".  I was thankful for a man who came up to the car and gave me directions on how to return to the freeway.

This past weekend, my inability to navigate carried over to a hiking trek that was supposed to take 45 minutes and instead took three hours.  Remember the "three hour tour" that turned into three years of Gilligan's Island episodes?  Yep, I was thinking that was going to be us.

We wanted to traipse to the Wisdom Tree, a tree that can be seen from any location in Burbank.  In 2007, there was a fire on this particular mountain and all the trees burned but this one was spared.

As I stood at the precipice of the beautiful mountain, I saw a trail to the left and decided, "Hmmm, that must be another way down to the car so let's take it."  And, because I just can't help myself, I then shared my thoughts with a Latino mom and her three children whom I had been talking with, and unfortunately for her, she followed my advice.

The trail was skinny and shrubby.

When we finally made it to a road, this kid ran backwards so he wouldn't get too far ahead of me.

Yep, we ended up hiking over six miles!

I kept hearing the Latino mom use the word "loco" and I feel that she must have been talking about me!  Lesson learned; I may get lost on a daily basis but I have promised Cole that I will never share my thoughts, feelings or my inability to navigate with a stranger again.  

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps."

~Proverbs 16:9

Fun in Little Rock and Los Angeles

Honestly, it can be so boring at our house for weeks on end and then BAM, we are busier than a one-armed paper hanger!

May was busy but June has been crazy!  On Thursday, we were invited to the Governor's Mansion (la-te-da) for Spencer to receive a CARTI Scholarship.  CARTI stands for Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute and it is the incredible organization where both Spencer and Brad received radiation for cancer.

My mom and Gigi were able to join us and it was wonderful.  Twenty former CARTI patients received scholarships and hearing their stories made me realize that God has big plans for all these young men and women.

Love these men in my life.

How blessed we are with these wonderful, sassy, smart, God-fearing women.

On Friday, Cole and I hit the road and headed to Shreveport, LA to visit my incredible friend, Tracy.  If ever there were someone that God created as my twin, she would be the one.  When we get together, we are akin to the Energizer Bunny on steroids!  We laugh, decorate, rearrange everything in sight, laugh more, decorate more and cry because we are laughing so hard.  Absolutely perfect!

Being the self-appointed President of the Cole Ewing fan club, a picture was necessary.

While Tracy and I were decorating and rearranging, these two were chilling.

Cole and I set out early Saturday morning and headed to Ft. Worth to see my family for a quick lunch.  Love, love, love that they were all able to meet us and visit, even if it was way too short.

Isabelle, a/k/a Precious.

Love these people so much.

After a very quick hour and a half visiting and laughing at Jason's Deli, we were back on the road and headed to Albuquerque, NM for the night.

After driving to LA for five years and taking the same route on I40, I have always wanted to drive through Bearizona, a wildlife sanctuary just outside of Phoenix, AZ.  Although we have passed this place at least 20 times, the boys always veto my vote to stop.  "We need to get home!" or "We need to get to LA!" was always the answer I received when we saw the sign.  But this trip was different.  Since Cole and I couldn't check into the apartment until Monday morning, and since we made the trip in two days instead of three, Cole was actually the one who suggested stopping!  I was giddy with excitement!!!!

This is what Cole did for each animal we saw; we named them and Cole concocted a story and then we texted it to Spencer.  So hilarious.  There were no close encounters although I did want to jump the fence and take these babies home with us.

Oh my stars, they were cute!

The rest of the drive went without a hitch and as soon as we arrived in Los Angeles, Cole hit the ground running.  For our first fun outing, we joined the Lab Rats gang at Dodger Stadium in the owner's suite to hang out and watch the game.

It's Spencer's fault that I didn't wear the correct colors for the Dodgers (I thought their colors were red, blue and white!).

Great view and we had a suite time!!!

And, to top our first week off back in LA, my dreams came true when our friends Susan and Grace called to ask if I would keep their two cats Sunday night and Monday.  What!?!?  

Meet Edgar.  This snarky, sassy, beautiful young man likes for you to pet his head ONLY (or he bites!), wants to play at 4:00am, and wants to sleep on your face.  I was happy to oblige him with all his wishes!

And this is Wednesday.  She is beautiful, loves to be petted and wants to sleep under the covers.  No problem!

Honestly, what kind of cruel friends do I have that ask me to take care of their babies and then want them back?!

While we're having fun in LA, Spencer has been busy in Little Rock with VBS at First Baptist Church last week, and with Summer Spectacular this week at Rock Creek.

Love that this young man has a heart to serve the Lord and makes friends wherever he goes.

Stay tuned for more exciting news, like maybe I will get a new kitty!  Most likely they will find Jimmy Hoffa's body before that happens but a girl can dream, can't she?

~"I command you - be strong and courageous!  Do not be afraid or discouraged.  For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
~Joshua 1:9