Friends in VA

I will miss my friends in Virginia...sniff, sniff. They have been wonderful, amazing, God-sent, encouraging, vibrant, fun, fantastic, beautiful...I could go on and on. Although I hate moving so frequently, it's a great opportunity to add more friends to my facebook. Just kidding! It's a great opportunity to have sweet relationships with more and more awesome people on this planet. Here are some photos from this last month with my East coast gals.

Striking a pose

Laila, myself, and Kelley

Nicole' - she & her family were kind
to have me over on Christmas day

The bulk of the Remuda Ranch East clinical department
at our Christmas party

Painting Pictures of Egypt

My final patient while working at Remuda had some major anxiety. She was a wonderful Christian believer and during our several sessions where we discussed her issues with an eating disorder and anxiety, we processed the ideas of faith and risk. I believe that the opposite of fear (anxiety) is faith - to believe that what we fear will either not occur or that God in His sovereignty will provide what we need to overcome/walk through the situation with strength. We mused how the people in Scripture who pleased God and were blessed were those who lived by faith and risk. She kept referring to a song by Sara Groves titled "Painting Pictures of Egypt" and how it reminded her of the journey of faith. The song is written from the perspective of the Israelites after they left Egypt and were wandering through the desert. Curious, I downloaded the song and the lyrics really struck me:

I don't want to leave here, I don’t want to stay
It feels like pinching to me either way
The places I long for the most
Are the places where I’ve been
They are calling after me like a long lost friend

It’s not about losing faith
It’s not about trust
It’s all about comfortable
When you move so much
The place I was wasn’t perfect
But I had found a way to live
It wasn’t milk or honey
But then neither is this

I’ve been painting pictures of Egypt
Leaving out what it lacked
The future seems so hard
And I want to go back
But the places that used to fit me
Cannot hold the things I"ve learned
And those roads closed off to me
While my back was turned

But the lyrics I appreciated the most go like this:

If it comes too quick
I may not recognize it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?
If it comes too quick
I may not appreciate it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?

As I drive across 6 states, 2500 miles, over mounatins and across rivers towards the desert, I have reason to be fearful. I am leaving my comfortable home with no home to go to, no possessions but what I carry in my two suitcases, no husband (well, he's waiting for me in the desert), no job, no certainty of when my house in VA will sell, no knowledge of when I'll be settled. But I have been here before. Does that mean that my faith wavers? Not necessarily...like the song says, it's not about trust, but about comfortability. That's what I desire the most. But that is the place where I depend least on my God and are prone to 'sleepwalk' through life. I do want to go back but I have to believe life is more exciting and relationship with God is sweeter when I am uncomfortable. And so, the sand and time continue...and they always will.

San Antonio

We had a fast-paced, full-throttle Thanksgiving chocked full of family. We started out in Phoenix for three days with Jason's parents and then took the red-eye out to Texas where we met up with my parents, brother and grandparents in San Antonio. This is one of the rare places in the world where I had been, but Jason had yet to visit. The riverwalk was just gorgeous - every year the city decorates the river with beautiful Christmas lights hanging down from the trees over the water. We visited the Alamo & riverwalk, took a boat tour, window-shopped at a Mexican flea market and got our chips and salsa fix. It was fun to be with family, but I think we were more tired when we got back home than when we left!

The Spencer family at brunch with our mimosas!

In front of the Alamo door

Famous oak tree inside the walls of the Alamo

My beautiful mother and grandmother

Riverwalk Christmas lights!

Inside a well-known Mexican bakery
(parents on the right)

Mi familia on the boat tour -
apparently mom was bobbing her head during the picture.

On the riverwalk boat tour

Museum of Natural History

Amanda, one of my dear friends from graduate school, was up in DC for work and we had a great opportunity to hang out. We went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, which had some new exhibits. One of our favorites was the gem/crystal/mineral exhibit where a plethora of precious gems, famous vintage jewelry pieces and crystals of all shapes/sizes/colors were displayed. After viewing the different displays of animals, oceanic life, jewelry, and dinosaur bones, I am again reminded of God's creativity. Why did he decide to create oceanic currents and have the cooler currents run underneath the warmer ones? Why did he decide to give the Irish elk antlers so large that he eventually became extinct? Why did he make diamonds one of the hardest materials in the world? Amanda and I decided that we hope there's an orientation time when we get to Heaven so all these questions can be answered!

Amanda and I in the front lobby with the giant elephant

Talk about some major flexibility -
that must be the best water ever!

Amanda & a North American bear

Me & the Giant Sloth

The Hope Diamond - 45.52 carats!

Look at this huge sapphire brooch! - 423 carats
Jason, I think I know what I'm going to put on my Christmas list:)

This was a display of crystals/gems in every
color of the rainbow - very cool

Richmond 8K

Last Saturday we ran an 8K in downtown Richmond. It had rained most of the night before and was forecasted to rain during the race, but we lucked out with cool, breezy, morning air. There was a portion of the course where we were running on old cobblestone roads, lined with row houses and large trees shedding bright yellow leaves on anything beneath its limbs...including the runners! Jason said it reminded of him of the Cosby show - not exactly what came to my mind, but we all know he's a bit of a dork:) Anyway, it was a nice time and we'll miss the cool weather for races such as this.

Back home after the race

The cool medals we were awarded!
We'll treasure them forever:)

Bald Eagles

How rare is it to see a bald eagle? How about three bald eagles?!! Driving home from church I noticed a man leaning against a fence railing at a farm and it caught my eye that he was looking at some birds in the farm's field. It took me a second to realize that they were bald eagles - luckily, the farm is 2 minutes from our house, so I raced home and grabbed my camera. I think that the fourth bird is a turkey vulture and he was standing at a distance waiting for his turn at whatever dead animal they were feeding on. The eagle on the far right was definitely the "bodyguard." How cool!!

Acadia National Park

So I forgot to finish our posts on Maine. The final one has to do with Acadia National Park. Firstly, it was cold up on Cadillac Mountain!! At 1500 feet above sea level, this mountain is the highest point on the Eastern seaboard in America and for most of the year is the place in our country where you can be the first to view the sunrise. The views were astonishing! There was a 27 mile loop scenic drive around the park that led to a variety of photo op locations with several ponds and lakes adding to the gorgeous scenery. I'm so glad that God chose to have the earth display His glory...there's no mistaking his hugeness when you're at Acadia National Park. We had to go two days in a row because there's not enough time in one trip to stop at every scenic location. OK, I know this is a little over the top, but we took 400 pictures during this trip!! I just couldn't get enough of all the color, forest, mountains, seacliffs and shoreline. What a blessing!

Otter Bay

Otter Cliffs

These huge boulders by the water signaled getting
nearer to the famed Otter Cliffs

Don't jump...I love you!

Quiet spot next to a creek

Jordan Pond

Near Thunder Hole

Near Sand Beach

Huge mountainside with trees growing on the cliffs

Eyeing Eagle Lake

View of Bar Harbor from Cadillac Mountain

Lighthouse Tour

We took a tour around the bay that included several lighthouse locations. It was cold!!! But definitely worth it...viewing the shoreline and ocean cliffs from the water was tremendous. We also saw several huge mansions overhanging the sea from the cliffs - owned by Rockefeller and Martha Stewart, to name a few. The sea was full of lobster buoys that identified where the traps floated...all 7000 of them!