And For the Exciting News

Amy, my sister, is 9 weeks pregnant! Amy and Eric are going to have their 1st baby and making me an Auntie for the 3rd time. We are excited for a new baby and this little one is already in my prayers.

Jammin'

Soon as a cool and free day comes around, I'll be making jam, jelly, and syrup. My freezer is packed full of prepared strawberries, apricots and plums. Not all the frozen fruit will be used for jam and such but will kept frozen to make a crisp or pie. YUMMY! In this picture you can not even see the 3 gallon bags full of strawberries, they are behind the apriocots.

It's A Post!

So, I guess I can say that I am a fair weather blogger. My last post was on March 3rd, quite a long while ago. March 3rd started "Operation Trust in the Lord". The Lord has been so gracious to me, as He always is gracious, to lead and direct my way. God has faithfully brought trials my way to refine and perfect me, to make me more like Christ. My trials have been light in comparison to what others have been through. I am grateful for the trials and thankful that God is faithfully always by my side. God so faithfully worked to prepare me for the future.

Here is a mere glimpse into some of what God has revealed to me since March 3rd.

• March 3- my PE department plans a meeting with school administration to talk about master calendar issues that relate to PE and the school. To our huge surprise, the administration notified the five of us that the district was eliminating one whole PE position out of the next year's master calendar line. Class size would go from starting at 40 students/class to 55. The administration told one of our dear male PE teachers that he would be placed at another site for the next school year, because he was lowest seniority with 9 years in the district. This would leave us with 3 female teachers and just one male teacher. God started to work in my heart that very moment that I thought I might be the one who would be placed in another school (even with 11 years at the same school, I was the lowest seniority female in my PE department). The issue is that the locker rooms have to be supervised and one male teacher can not possible watch, supervise and be free from possible accusations with over 100 middle school boys in one small area at a time. Will I trust God?
• End of March- my district is in the process of doing massive cut backs to balance the horrible state budget. The decision was made to lay off PE teacher up to 8 years 10 month seniority in the district. Next year's anticipated cuts look to be even more harsh on physical education for the students. God starts the process in my heart to prepare for possible cut backs in the future that would cause me to be without a job. My mind starts thinking of all the possible routes that I can take to help insure I have a job next year. Crazy times. God is faithful.
• Mid April- pink slips are given out to some 20 PE teachers. I have decided that I want to pursue a science teaching credential, since the district is not laying off science teachers. Not sure if I want to take college courses or take the CSET test. God is sovereign and He is in control.
• April- May- refinement period. God brings on smaller trials, but trials no the less to continually cause me to go back and rest in my faithful God. Even when my heart was weak, He encouraged my soul. Here is a list of a few of the trials: Easter Sunday my beloved Bible was misplaced and has yet to be found, a roommate situation was not working out the way I had hoped, my grandfather clock (made by my grandfather), earth quake strapped to the wall and all, crashed to the ground and sustained some damage, one of my cats decided to start marking his territory on my carpet and wall and my back completely "went out". It is well with my soul and God is good.
• June- I am called into the principals office and told what I felt deep down in my heart since March 3rd, that truly it was I that was leaving the school and being placed at another school(s) due to cutbacks and needing to equalize the locker rooms. My co-workers, myself and the entire school are saddened. Praise the Lord, I have worked hard at this school for 11 years and this has been my mission field. It was hard to go but God has been yet again so faithful and so good to me. He alone is my rock, my fortress and my deliver.
• To this point- the district is a little overwhelmed, if I can say, with all of the massive cut backs that they have done, they have not figured out the placement of everyone yet. The Lord knows where my new mission field will be, looks like it will be elementary PE. The last 15 years have been teaching middle school and now I will start elementary. As to the science credential, honestly- it is not something I want to pursue but I still feel God wants me to be faithful in this area. By His grace alone, I am studying to take the CSET exam in either September or November. I am having a hard time sitting down and studying, for now it is chemistry, it will get to physics, astronomy, biology, earth science, genetics and evolution. The test material is like getting 6 BS in the different science areas. The test and how I do is in God's hands. He knows, He is sovereign, He moves the way He wants. All of my days, I will trust in the Lord.

Thanks for your patience, I'll try to keep you updated but from my history as a blogger, I know better. There's more I want to share but that will be for later posts. Hope all is well with you and that you can say with me, "It is well with my soul".

Update on Photo Contest

When my March issue of Sunset arrived in my mail box sometime in late February, the first page I look at is the inside back cover revealing the "The First Glimpse of Spring" photo contest winner. With hopeful anticipation, I see that none of my photos were chosen. But the paragraph below mentions my photo at AT&T Park, "This month, we were looking for the first signs of spring, and you responded with a flood of gorgeous images: tulips, hummingbirds, snow-covered crocuses, even a hopeful shot of the empty scoreboard at San Francisco's AT&T Park." Can I say I made honorable mention?

The deadline for May's contest is March 12th, and the theme is "the highest, lowest, northernmost, southernmost, or westernmost part of the West you've been to?" At this point I don't know if I have any worthy photos for the contest. The one I am considering is the photo below at the base of Mt. Lassen. Not the best shot but it is all that I have.

This shot was taken at the base of Mt. Lassen at Helen Lake. The peak of Lassen is close to 11,000 feet above sea level and Helen Lake sits around 8,300 (to my memory that is what I recall but I could be off on both of those). For the record, I have climbed to the peak 2 times and want to do it again real soon, and I have not swam in the lake but one about 1/4 mile away when it was half covered with snow-another story for another time.

I am slightly considering this shot from San Diego but I think the photo is nothing special.

The photo and below are from my recent trip to Cambria (cute little town between LA and the Bay Area). The one highlight of either of these photos is the elephant seals that were onshore to have their pups and this happens in January so it does not really fit in with the May issue. For that matter, the picture of Lassen is not part of May either. You can not get any where near Helen Lake in May, still too much snow. The peak trial does not even open until July.

From the Inside Out and You Are God Alone

On Sunday at church the arrangement of worship songs were simply beautiful. I would like to share the lyrics of two of the songs we sang, From the Inside Out and You Are God Alone.

From the Inside Out by Joel Houston, 1996

A thousand times I've failed
Still your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I'm caught in your grace

Chorus
Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
my heart and my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart, in my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Chorus 2x

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out Lord, my soul cries out


You Are God Alone by Billy Foote 2004

You are not a God created by human hands
You are not a God dependent on immortal man
You are not a God in need of anything we can give
By your plan, that's just the way it is


You're the only God whose power none can contend
You're the only God whose name and praise will never end
You're the only God whose worthy of everything we can give
You are God and that's just the way it is


chorus
You are God alone
From before time began
You are on your throne
You are God alone
And right now in the good times and bad
You're on the throne
You are God alone
You are God alone

Unchangeable
Unshakable
Unstoppable
That's what you are
Unchangeable
Unshakable
Unstoppable
That's what you are

You are God alone
In the good times and bad
You are on Your throne
You are God alone
And right now in the good times and bad
You are on your throne
You are God alone
You are God alone
You are God alone
You are God alone
Yes You are
Yes You are

I found myself singing the chorus all morning at work. God must have been preparing my heart for the hard news that was given in a meeting with the administration and my PE department at the end of the school day. Due to decreasing enrollment and the enormous shortfall in the state budget, my department is going to lose a PE teacher and class sizes are going to increase to 55 students in one class. Absolutely this is not in the same category as someone battling cancer facing a huge surgery or a family that loses their 13 year old son, but it is still is hard and a challenge. My heart is assured that God alone is God, in the good times and the bad, He is still on His throne. He is still sovereign and has a good and perfect plan (even if I never understand).

My Days are Less Busy Now

What a relief when this week finally rolled in. My life has been seriously busy for the last month and I am more than happy that my life has calmed down significantly. The busyness came on with no warning and there was nothing I could do about it. I praise God that He allows life to have it's seasons and they will last as long as He has predetermined them to be so.

Actual Rules for Teachers (circa 1915)

1. You will not marry during the term of your contract
2. You are not to keep company with men
3. You must be home between the hours of 8 pm and 6 am unless attending a school function
4. You dresses must be not any shorter than two inches above the ankle
5. You may not travel beyond the city limits unless you have the permission of the chairman of the (school) board
6. You may not ride in a carriage or automobile with any man unless he is your father or brother
7. You may not dress in bright colors
8. You may under no circumstances dye your hair
9. You must wear at least two petticoats
10. You may not loiter downtown in ice cream stores

The set of teacher rules crossed my desk a few weeks ago and made me chuckle and boy have the rules changed (I don't even know if we have rules for teachers now). In looking at the rules, were teachers only female and were they not allowed to marry? Being a PE teacher, I wonder how I could teach with a dress that could not be more than 2" above my ankle and wearing at least two petticoats. Demonstrating the high jump, running a 50 meter dash, spiking a volleyball, or playing a game of "Rocks" would have been interesting, to say the least.

Sunset Magazine January

I have posted January's meal and day trip reviews in my new blog From Dawn Into Sunset (click here to be directed to blog).

Meet Half Way

Over the MLK 3 day weekend, Anne and Becky traveled up from the Los Angeles area, I drove south on highway 1 and we met half way in Cambria. Cambria is cute little coastal town with tons of charm. Cambria offers many tasty restaurants, wonderful wine tasting, antique shops and various other stores that are filled with charm. During the month of January, the elephant seals beach themselves on their yearly migration trek so the females can give birth to their pups and the males are fighting over their female clan and mating to keep the cycle going. The last weekend in January is the wine festival. For lodging we stayed at the Morgan, a very nice hotel in San Simeon, 2 miles away from Cambria. There was a great walking path next to the ocean on Moonstone Drive.

The protected area went from one end of the beach to the other. There were hundreds of elephant seals on the beach. For every 20 or so females there was 1 male who was King of over these. Each of the females either had a pup, was soon to have a pup or already had a pup that expired.

The docents shared with us about the nursery scene. Here you see 1 female with 6 pups all around her trying to nurse. Only 1 of these pups is hers but the others have lost their mothers, either by not being able to find them on the beach, the mother's being young and not being able to call for them properly, or they deserted their moms. The sad truth is that this one mother will not have enough milk to feed anymore than one pup and the others most likely will expire from starvation. From the platform that was built to keep the people away from the seals, we view at least 4 dead pups.

Just below the front flipper of this male you can see the pup that we witnessed being born just a few minutes prior. This big fellow (the males can get up to 5,000 pounds), just had finished fighting another male and chased him into the water. He stopped almost right on top of the new born pup and gave out a big roar which I translate, "Stay back, these are my gals".

Just love these pictures from the garden area of one of the cute little shops that we visited.

My Second Blog

One of my New Year's goals from my last post said I wanted to start a new blog titled, From Dawn Into Sunset. I have the general layout done and my first post completed. I am still working on some of the details on my profiles to be different for each of my blogs but that will happen some other time when I am not so tired. You can click here to check out the blog or here is the URL: http://fromdawnintosunset.blogspot.com From Dawn Into Sunset will my exploration into each monthly issue of Sunset Magazine. I am thinking when I put a post on the my new blog, I will put a short post on here telling there is a new post, or at least here in the beginning.

Happy New Year (one week late)!

(Image taken from Google Images)

Happy New Year everyone! Seems weird that the date is now 2010 and oh how time is still flying on by. Was it just 10 years ago that the electronic world was going to come to a halt because anything computerized was not going to be able to handle the date change to 2000? What a wild New Year Eve that was for me 10 years ago. I was walking the streets of San Francisco with my dear friends Jerre and Selena along with 500,000 other people (at least). To say the least, it was crazy and so out of the norm of my typical celebration of New Year's Eve. This year was so typical for me, I really don't like being out in the crowds or driving after 12:00 with the drunks. My dear friend Dawn and I went to dinner at a new restaurant that we have wanted to try and then went to see Avatar in 3D. Was in the comfort of my own home by 10:30. Very nice (I was up way past the ball dropping in California time- I was not that huge of a party pooper).

I have come up with a list of New Year's Goals that I want to try to accomplish this year. Not resolutions, because to me making a resolution means that I need to correct something that has been incorrect or not right. There may be some truth to my goals about needing resolutions but not completely. So, I have goals this year. One of my lifetime sayings is, "If you aim for something, you will hit something, but, if you aim for nothing, you will hit anything". Here are my 2010 goals, in no particular order:

• Finish last year's read through the Bible in a year plan. Currently, I am about 3/4 of the way done. After I am done with that plan, I want to read through different New Testament books each month, the whole month through the same book.
• Read one leisure book a month (this will have to mean less TV and computer time).
• Memorize scripture
• Start a single gals monthly prayer time
• Get my WSI certification (water safety instruction).
• Keep going towards my weight goal, taking it nice and slow. I did not put on this weight overnight and I can't expect to take it off overnight.
• Order my creative wall expression for "We Are Family, All Of My Sisters and Me" and hang family photos on one of my hallway walls.
• Deep clean and organize my closet.
• Travel more, make specific time ahead of time to take trips including little day trips.
• Plan out my summer plans ahead of time, not every little detail but the big things.
• Join a Christian online dating site. I can not even begin to tell you how much I dislike online dating sites but God just might use this avenue to allow me to meet a Godly man.
• Take a photography class.
• Enter the county fair for a few photos, some of my herbs, maybe something from the garden and a jar of my apple sauce.
• Cook one recipe for family and/or friends and take one trip of a point of interest highlighted in each month's addition of Sunset Magazine. I would like to blog on each of these each month, possibly starting up a new blog called From Dawn Into The Sunset.
• Save $ into a specific bank account for fun money for purchases for my home.
• Hike all of the trails in Briones Regional Park with Suzanne (this actually needs to be completed by 11/11/10).
• Teach a canning class to the woman at my church.
• Have game nights at my home.
• Blog on what is growing in my garden, garden maintenance and what's at the farmer's market.
• Visit my beloved family in Coalinga often.
• Run a 5K, run/walk a 10K, and run/walk a half marathon.

Please feel free to ask me how I am doing of any of these goals at any point in time. God has programed me to need my cheerleaders along the way and accountability.

Briones Goal 1/2/10

My vacation started and ended with hikes chipping away at hiking each and every trail in Briones Regional Park in a year. Again today we were slogging through the mud, more mud today than last time, but still equally as beautiful. The morning started out with a warmer fog than last time, we saw many newts (had to be careful not to step on them), this time we saw several red tailed hawks up close. They had incredible markings on their backsides. Suzy and I have almost finished off all the trails in the Northern part of the park. Today's hike was 4.67 miles. My body is starting to really feel good with the hiking. I praise the Lord to be able to explore His incredible creation.

Today, for some reason, both Suzy and I were on the quieter side and that allowed us to listen to the creation and to use our senses. When we attuned our ears and focused we could hear the droplets of rain and dew fall off the bay leaves and fall to the ground below, the swooping of the wings of the hawks, the chirping of the little birds in the bushes and leaves, and the trickle of the stream. There was also the squishing of mud with each step we took, and the exhaling of labored breathing with each uphill step I took and the exclamation of, "This is so incredibly beautiful".

Very nice end to my vacation. Longing for the next hike. The next 4 are already planned.

Fun Busy Days

My sweet "Loves" have been in town since the day after Christmas and my days have been a fun filled busy. Together we have turned over every rock, stone and wood stepping stone in Nana and Papa's yard several times and discovered many cool bugs and salamanders. Many books have been read through while sitting on a comfy sofa, with both snuggled close to listen. The kids were the best for a family party I hosted yesterday, playing happily in the empty room down the hall with the bucket of kids toys I keep on hand. We even went and saw Alvin and the Chipmunks (and the Chipette's, my niece would want to include). Today, we are going to try ice skating, hope my bum bum and knees survive. There is something special about a child reaching their tiny hand, or it feels tiny in my hand, up into your hand to be held. My heart melts when Trin Trin says, reverting back to when she was a wee little one like Joe Joe, "Shaw, Shaw" or when Joe Joe says, clear as a bell, "Shel". My response always, "Yes Love".

Loving these fun filled busy days.

I Agree with Joey

My Joe-Joe Love does not care for Santa too much, me either. O, I love my Loves!

Unto Us A Child Is Born! 2009 Christmas Letter

O HOLY NIGHT!

O Holy Night! Composed by Adolphe Adam 1847

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of Our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world In sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd And the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope The weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks A new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! O, hear the angels' voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts By His cradle we stand.
So led by light of A star sweetly gleaming,
Here come the wise men From Orient land.
The King of Kings Lay thus in lowly manger;
In all our trials Born to be our friend.
He knows our need, To our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King, Before Him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us To love one another;
His law is love And His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break For the slave is our brother;
And in His name All oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy In grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us Praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory Evermore proclaim.
His power and glory Evermore proclaim.

O Holy Night is one of my favorite Christmas Carols, the words so precisely explain why Christ was born. Listen here to Josh Groban singing O Holy Night!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas to you and your family! Christ the Savior is born! The Isaiah 9:6 verse in the picture above foretells the true meaning of Christmas and why Christ came to earth. God came in human flesh, born as babe because He would one day die and rise from the dead to restore the relationship between man and God. God paid the penalty of our guiltiness. Because of what Christ has done, we can go to Him and repent of our guiltiness of sin and put our hope and trust in Him alone. My hope and prayer is that the true meaning of Christmas will come true to your heart. If you would like to know more specifically about a personal relationship with Christ you can click here .

BLOG CHRISTMAS LETTER

Thank you for stopping in and reading my Christmas letter on the world wide web. This year I am trying a virtual Christmas letter. Some of you received an email directing you to this blog post, some simply read my blog and other's received a post card because I don't have an email address for you. If I don't yet have your email address you can leave a comment at the end of this post and include in your comment your email address or you can email me at firstnameunderscoremylastname@yahoo.com (I try to keep my last name and email address hidden from this blog, but if you know me, you will know these details so it's shelly_. . .). If you would prefer not to have your email address posted in the comment, I can just not publish your comment.

My goal is to save a little money on postage, conserve on paper and to display better pictures than what my printer prints on paper. Doing a letter this way might also help me to get out my letter every year instead of every other year. Sorry, I just get so busy before Christmas that getting out my Christmas cards each year is just so hard.

My blog exists to share with my dear family and friends who are located across the globe some of the happenings of my life and how God is working in my life. Sometimes, I am able to post on a somewhat regular basis and other times my busy life takes over and there are no posts. If you want to check out past posts on my blog, you can click on the title of my blog Shells on the Seashore or go to http://www.shellsonline.blogspot.com/.

THE BRIEF LOW-DOWN ON ME

In the grand scheme of life, nothing significant has changed with me. I'm another year older and hopefully a little wiser. Two birthdays ago, I gracefully slipped into my 40's, oh my, I still can't believe it. Time just flies on by. This year is my 16th year of teaching, 11 years at my present school. What a joy and delight to teach our youth about physical activity and being outdoors breathing fresh air and watching the clouds roll on by.

Gardening, farmer's markets and home preserving all seem to go together for me. God has given me a palate for fresh and wholesome food. I absolutely love making meals out of my "goodies" and when a meal turns out really yummy, it's called "yumahah!" (if you say it is almost, "It's yummy huh?" and is said like the motorcycle). To give my excess fruit and vegetables away to my family, friends and neighbors allows the yum to be spread around. Here is a sampling of some of the yummies from my little garden. I am convinced that anyone can grow a garden with a simple plot of land or even pots and planter boxes.

Here is my current winter garden: broccoli, celery, kale, Swiss chard, various kinds of lettuce, flava beans, onions and carrots. Thus far I've been eating from my kale, Swiss chard and lettuce.

The summer of '08 I had a prolific crop of apricots and plums. A dear friend taught me how to fresh preserve and can my first jams . Since then I have learned to fresh preserve many other foods. The beneficial aspect of canning your own food is you know exactly what you are getting and precisely what is in each jar. There is a wonderful freshness to something that has been preserved. When you work with a friend while canning, you can have a delightful time of fellowship and get a smooth running assembly line going. If anyone would like to come over to learn how to fresh preserve, give me a call and I would love to teach you.

Fresh canned peaches in a light syrup.

Homemade "smooth" applesauce with no sugar added. Yummy!

The house has seen a couple of significant home improvements over the last year and half. The front yard was landscaped minus the grass. The Bay Area, the entire state of California too, has been in drought conditions for the last few years, so I have held off on putting in the grass. Last summer my pool went through a major project of re-surfacing the plaster. The pool looks outstanding now and my whole backyard is improved because of the project. If you want to see the process you can look back in past blog posts and see the entire day to day improvements.

MY FAMILY

Many of you may not know, since I did not get out a letter last year, we have had a wonderful blessing added to our family, Joseph Charles. One of my greatest joys in life is being an Auntie to my sweet niece Trinity (4 years) and my sweet nephew Joey (1 1/2 years). I fondly call them "Love" or Trin Trin and Joe Joe. I so love them and cherish any opportunity to spend time with them. Whenever we are together, Auntie is everything.

A huge praise to the Lord, each of my family members are doing well at the present time. I am so thankful to God for each of them, they are so very special to me and I love them dearly. There is a deep bond between all of us. Here are a few photos of my dear family.

My Mom and Dad last weekend for my birthday.

The entire clan for our annual Christmas family picture.


HOLIDAY EXERCISE ADVICE

The holidays bring on a huge amount of busyness and extra calories. If you are going to enjoy some of the yummy food around you, make sure you get out and get some exercise. Exercise in a way that raises your heart rate significantly for at least, at the bare minimum, 10 minutes. Even better would be to set aside 30-60 of exercise at least 5 days a week. Your exercise does not need to be anything big or grand, just a walk around your neighborhood will do.

The tip I am sharing with my students this year involves working the core of your body (studies are starting to show that along with regular cardiovascular workouts we need to work our core muscles- abs, lower back, gluts, quads and hams to get the best benefits of exercise that will have the most observable longterm results. The tip I shared with my students is to use idol time in front of the t.v. or in between X-Box games to do a round of curl ups, crunches, push ups, planks, lunges or stretches. The commercials last for 2 minutes at the hour or half hour times and is the perfect amount of time to get a set of core exercises in.

For example during my hour CSI show, at 9:00 when the show starts I can do 30 curl ups (takes about 1 minute to do 30) and a set of as many as I can do of crunches in one minute. At 9:30 I can do 3 sets of 10 modified push ups (on my knees, keeping my back perfectly flat, takes about 1 minute) and immediately transfer to 3 sets of 20 seconds each of planks. When the show is over and I am waiting to hear the brief news prior to the 10:00 news, I can do a set of lunges, 10 on each side and repeat 3 times. My basic core workout for the day is done and it only took 6 minutes of my time while I was already not doing much of anything.

HOLIDAY RECIPE

During the holidays there are always parties to go to and often times you need to bring some fun festive food. I found a great recipe from the 2009 December Sunset Magazine that has been a big hit both times I have brought it to a party. It is called Roasted Pears with Almonds, Cranberries and White Chocolate Drizzle by McCormick & Co., Inc. Here is the recipe taken from the McCormick web site. Enjoy!

Roasted Pears with Almonds, Cranberries and White Chocolate Drizzle

Ingredients
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons McCormick® Gourmet Collection Cinnamon, Saigon
1 teaspoon McCormick® Gourmet Collection Nutmeg, Ground
1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Gourmet Collection Cloves, Ground
4 firm ripe pears, such as Bosc or Anjou, halved and cored
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1/3 cup heavy cream
4 ounces white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/2 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in small bowl. Place pear halves, cut-side up, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with no stick cooking spray. Drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture.
2. Bake 30 minutes or until pears are tender, spooning brown sugar mixture over pears halfway through baking. Cool slightly.
3. Bring cream just to boil in small saucepan on medium heat. Remove from heat. Add white chocolate; stir until chocolate is melted and sauce is smooth.
4. To serve, place a pear half on each of 8 dessert plates. Stir brown sugar mixture in baking dish. Spoon over pear halves. Sprinkle with almonds and cranberries. Drizzle generously with white chocolate sauce. Serve immediately.
Tips
Test Kitchen Tip: Stir 1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Gourmet Collection Saigon Cinnamon into the white chocolate sauce.This recipe was created by Cat Cora, Bon Appétit Executive Chef, for the McCormick® Gourmet Collection.

Glory to God in the Highest!

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!


With much love and care,

Shelly

Wonderful Start to My Vacation

My walking partner (and beloved sister in the Lord from my church), Suzanne, took me hiking just over a month ago to Briones Regional Park in the East Bay. That day, we made a pack that we would hike every trail in the park within a year's time. Beingtoday is my first day on Christmas Break from work, I decided there would be no better way to start off my vacation than with a good hike in the morning fog and to work on our trail goal.

This morning we parked off Briones Road, hiked a big loop on the Old Briones Road Trail to Briones Crest to Lagoon to Toyon Canyon to Tree and back to Old Briones Road.

On our travels we saw several newts along the way. A trail sign highlighted newts and stated "newts are traveling salamanders". I have not had the chance to look up what the difference is between a newt and a salamander (Tim Davis could give a good answer to this). When I felt the newt this morning he appeared to have firm and dry skin unlike a salamander who has loose and slimy skin.

The fog gave the landscape a mysterious feel. I decided to edit this shot and try black and white film.

The dew from the fog beaded so beautifully on the spider's web displaying her creativity.

The colors of fall/winter, the fog and the gloom, and the sunlight trying to burn through were incredible to the naked eye. The camera just can not capture the depth and hues of the true picture.

At some points, we were slogging through some mud and our boots were caked with mud making us a few inches taller.

Birthday Surprise

My sister Jen, is the queen of surprises and she pulled a great one on me this past weekend for my birthday. For the last several years, I have participated in a run/walk that my school promotes to the students. Usually the race takes place on the same weekend my birthday is celebrated. Just seconds before my 5K race started, I hear, "Auntie, Auntie!" I turn around and see my two sweet loves waving a sign and a hand wildly at me. What a surprise to see them at the race, I had no idea they were going to come and celebrate my birthday with me. Jen, my mom and Amy did a great job of not letting me in on the secret.

Knowing that I had two precious little one's waiting for me, helped me finish my race quickly. For this race, I had decided to walk the entire 5K and see if I could get my best walking time. My time at the finish line was 39:50, that's about 13:15 per mile. This was 6 minutes faster than my previous time. Next year my goal is to either run the 5K race or run/walk the 10K race.

Every year I am showered with love and kindness from my family and dear friends who want to celebrate my birthday with me. There are still a few more birthday celebrations to come with friends that I could not fit in during the busy weekend. Truly, the Lord has blessed me greatly.

40 at 40

Now that I am no longer 40, I can share a goal that came true the day before Thanksgiving, a goal I wanted to obtain before I moved to the next year of life. For the past 6 months, I have been working hard at trying to lose some weight and get a little healthier. The goal was to lose 40 pounds at the age of 40. All praise and honor goes to my Lord and Savior who allowed me to change my eating around, walk the tread off several pairs of running shoes and to keep me motivated. God has given me many "cheerleaders" and co-laborers along the way. Special thanks goes out to Suz for all the miles she walked with me on local trails. I think in October I walked 120 miles! There is more to go but it all takes time, hard work and God's enabling.

Snow Days

The mountain near my home and work gets snow on it a couple times a year but not the entire mountain nor the low lying hills. A cold front went through this morning and everything got a little dusting of beautiful snow.

The top two photos are from the top of the upper PE field at my school. Thankfully, my teaching station was not outside in the cold (the high today was in the low 40's) but in the comfort of the warm gymnasium. Tomorrow all the classes are outside for a run day, the highs are projected to be the same as today. Time to pull out the long underwear and layer it up.

The snow lasted the entire day and will most like last through tomorrow on the mountain. I took this shot driving down the highway of a different side of the same mountain above.

There is one time in my life that I remember it snowing at the house where I grew up. If my memory is correct I was in the 1st or 2nd grade. There was not much snow that was sticking to the ground, around 4". Mom and dad let my sister and I go out and play in it before school. We made a smaller snowman. That day, we went to school late to frolic in the snow. Still waiting for the day it snows again at my house, just not the hills and mountains close by.

The Lord Is

Image taken from Google Images

The Lord Is

The depths of Your grace who can measure
You fully supply all I need

You restore my weary soul again and again

And lead me in Your righteousness and peace

You’re with me through every dark valley

There’s nothing that I have to fear

You are there to comfort me again and again

Protecting me, assuring me You’re near

The Lord is

The Lord is my shepherd

The Lord is

The Lord is my shepherd

I shall not want

You gave Your own life for my ransom

So I could rejoice at Your side

You have shown Your faithfulness again and again

There’s nothing good that You will not provide

I will dwell in Your house

All the days of my life

I will dwell in Your house

All the days of my life

© 2008 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP)/Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

Click here for a sampling of the song.

God is so faithful to soothe His children's weary hearts and causes them to continually go back to Him again and again. The Lord Is recently has been a huge encouragement to my heart. Work was very challenging for a few weeks several weeks back and much of my time was spent having a proper God honoring response. God brought this song to my mind countless times during those days. When I had the opportunity to drive around solo, this song was played over and over, often times one hand raised in worship to my Savior. I so love worship music that is a direct reflection of His Word.