Thought Provoking....

I ran across this quote today:

"Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering."

Saint Augustine

My New Toy

Too bad it is only as smart as its user!

Jenny Lake

Going to bed last night, I had decided to drive up to Jenny Lake today. I had pretty much caught up my homework on Saturday night and Sunday. Sunday's weather turned out to be rather crumby, which was fine with me since I couldn't spend much time outside anyway. However, the weather today was perfect. It did freeze last night and I had to scrape my windshields. It didn't get much about 50 in the Tetons, but the air was crisp and clear and there was no wind. After loading up all my stuff and cleaning the condo, I picked up a coffee at "Elevated Grounds" and took off town toward Jackson.

Had I know that I would have to pay a fee to get into the park, I probably wouldn't have gone. Rather than turn around once I got that far, I paid the fee and drove on into to Teton National Park. From there, I pretty much just looked at the map and drove around. I loved every minute of it. Hopefully I can use my pass next weekend to go to Yellowstone :)

Math in the Mountains

I had the wonderful opportunity to stay in a friend's condo out of town this weekend. At first, I had decided not to go because I have too much homework. However, I got thinking about it and decided that I could still go and do homework while I was there. So here I am! Enjoying the Lord's goodness to me and the change of scenery. He knows what I need and I am so thankful that He is teaching me to be a little more spontaneous and receive the blessings that He wants to give me. I think so many times He is offering things to me, but I don't know how to receive them.

Anyway, although I still have hours of College Algebra homework to do, I am so thankful I am up here, at the base of the Tetons, enjoying the time I have. :-)

I Like :)

This soda is delightful!

O Deer

This was in my backyard 2 weeks ago...

Summer Break

Wow! I haven't updated this thing for ages! That's kinda sad. Maybe I need to go on another trip overseas so that I can reestablish the habit of blogging :)

Someone said the other day, "summer is half over". I'm like, "No! I have been in school for 8 weeks. I haven't even started summer yet!" Actually, I have officially been on summer break for one week now. This is the first real break from school that I have had in 13 months. Even while on Christmas and Spring vacation from EITC, I still had my U of I online classes that I had to work on. It feels kinda weird to be home and not have the pressure of studying. In fact, now that I have had a few days off, I am excited to get started again. I don't want to lose the momentum that has already been established. However, I probably should relax and enjoy the next month because next semester I am taking my two most dreaded classes....College Algebra and Speech. Ug.

To add to the "weirdness" of having a break, my "family" moved to Boise 3 weeks ago. That has been tough. I have been in Blackfoot almost 14 years with them and now they are far away. They have truly been a big part of my life and now I am being forced to really find my own identity in the Lord apart from them. Yeah, Boise is only 4 hours away so I can still visit, but I can no longer pop in on a Friday morning for coffee or hang out after work.

I'm still wrestling with what I am doing in Blackfoot. I like my job, I love the people I work with, and now that I have moved to an upstairs apartment, I love where I live. I am so blessed and thankful for what I have. I just can't seem to find a sustained state of peace where I am not wondering if I am missing God by making the decision to stay. I just keep plugging along day after day and nothing is changing. People around me are getting married, having babies, and basically going somewhere in life. I am going to school to do something that I don't really particularly enjoy, but somehow I think it will open doors for me down the road. I am trying to be faithful with what I have at my hand to do and be content with this prolonged season of life. It just gets discouraging when nothing changes...

Regardless of what I feel or see with my natural eyes, I have to stay in place of faith and trust that the Lord sees and knows. He is faithful and good to me. I may feel stuck in the waiting room, but He is after my heart and is more concerned about the process of trust rather than answering a prayer. But perhaps the trust may have to come by dropping everything here and doing something crazy....