MCAS Yuma Airshow

What can I say except that I love airshows. Saturday I spent the whole day at MCAS Yuma walking around looking at all the static displays and enjoying the great show. It was a beautiful day!

Easter Cupcakes inspired by The Pioneer Woman A little over a month ago I discovered The Pioneer Woman and ever since I have been intrigued, inspired and encouraged by her constant creativity and great humor. Recently I've been trying some of her recipes and they have all been great. Tonight I tried out "That's The Best Frosting I've Ever Had" on her "Best Chocolate Sheet Cake (or Cupcakes)". Both recipes were pretty easy and turned out quite delicious! I added edible grass and chocolate covered peanuts for an Easter look. Thanks Ree!

Happy 6th Birthday Margie!Here we are celebrating Margie's 6th and John's 2nd birthday on Sunday. We had a good time of food, fun and fellowship with Nathan & Hope Alterton (some friends from my brother's church). All the kids, four Lozanos and six Altertons, had a blast playing together out in the yard and all around the house. I had lots of fun holding seven month old Christian. He's a sweetie and a very good natured baby. I was in awe of how Faith manages and keeps it all together with six little boys (Daniel, Noah, Isaac, Peter, John and baby Christian) running around. Truly amazing!

Office Mischief!
Sometimes it just comes over us and we can't help it!

We love you Isaac =)

Spring is here! ( I think)
Yesterday was the first day of Spring and it was a beautiful day! The high was a lovely 78 degrees and I spent lots of time outside enjoying it. So as I was getting ready for church this morning I was excited to wear a springy dress and sandals. Yes! Maybe I can finally put the boots away and start wearing sandals again. Once I got off the hill though I started to doubt my choice of dress... maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all. The closer I drove to church the dimmer it looked. There's something about the typography of La Mirada that sometimes covers it in fog when everywhere else it's clear. Eventually the fog did clear up! The plan for Grace Group today was more relaxed. I made veggie kabobs for the barbecue. We had a great time together.

So a day the begin like this...

...ended like this! Beautiful.

Vanity plates and other odd things you see while driving
Webster's Dictionary defines vanity as:
1 : something that is vain, empty, or valueless
2 : the quality or fact of being vain
3 : inflated pride in oneself or one's appearance : CONCEIT
4 : a fashionable trifle or knickknack

It makes me wonder why some people feel the need to have vanity plates on their cars? OK, I have to admit once upon a time I had a vanity plate on my red 1980 AMC Spirit but that was high school! Once I graduated and time keeped passing by I didn't really want everyone knowing the year that happened. Yesterday as I was driving home from work I kept seeing some of these plates. Do I really need to know that you are DCTRLUV or that you are an 1NVSTER or that J ROCKS M and what does HERHARE even mean? And they are paying money for this!

And another strange phenomenon are license plate frames. Have you ever stopped to read some of them as you are behind them waiting for the light to change? The previously mentioned DCTRLUV had a diamond bedazzled frame. And as I was leaving Trader Joe's there was the white Ford Explorer had a frame that boldly stated "ready for fun... loyal to none". Really?!! You want the whole world to see that? Then of course you have all the people who like to let you know what team they are a super fan of or what their Alma mater is, and most don't seem to mind giving free advertisement space to the car dealership where they purchased said car. Even crazier, I remember a few years ago as I was driving to work I saw a someone that had attached a folded lawn chair to the back of their car trunk to which they attached a giant "Vote for Neal" sign. I should look for that picture...it's in my files somewhere.

As for me, vanity plates went the way of other "fashionable trifles" like big 80's hair, pegged jeans and shoulder pads. The first thing I did when I purchased my truck was to remove the dealership frame. Just the plain old license plate for me please. Nice & simple... and no bumper stickers please!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

"Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man
who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man
who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me."
- Saint Patrick

To Do Lists & Flowers...

I have a friend who is a very organized "list person". I admire M's lists and organizational skills and sometimes wish I could be as good at it as she is. But honestly, I'm really not a "list person" although sometimes I do try (unsuccessfully I might add) to make a To Do List and try to check it off as I go. This past week I made one such list trying to get organized and get some things done that I have been putting off way to long. Well, I have to say that I only got two things checked off my list today. But who could resist staying indoors and "to doing" when these beautiful flowers and sunshine were calling my name! So I grabbed my camera and wandered about happily taking lots of pictures. Here are some of the many colorful flowers that are currently blooming in the yard. Makes me so thankful to our wonderful Creator! As for the list? Tomorrow is another day and I can work at checking one or two more things off.

Coffee with Corey at last

Well today our office finally had our long awaited "Coffee with Corey". I say finally because it had been talked about for almost two years. President Corey and Ken walked around the office and talk to each of the staff members then briefly said a few words before leaving.

The office was closed during this time so we could enjoy some refreshments. There was coffee, juice, cinnamon rolls and "sconkies" (Megan named the cookies that because we couldn't tell if they were cookies or scones!) It was disappointing that the president couldn't stay the whole time but that's just how things are sometimes.

Ashleigh, Aida & Terri enjoying the morning break.

If it's Wednesday it must be bocce...

Today was the opening day for the spring bocce tournament at work. All the teams gathered at lunch time in McNally field to play in hopes of being the last team standing and winning the big trophy. I'm passing on the competition again and instead spent the time playing with baby Kate who looks like she's got this bocce ball thing down. Such a cutie pie! The weather was breezy and a bit cold especially when the sun would play hide-and-seek behind those big, billowy, puffy clouds. Ah... but wait for it... There, it's back! Beautiful, warm sun you make me happy!

Still Celebrating!
Here is my amazing Banner team: Chrystal, Megan and Jeri.

Day two went just as smoothly as yesterday. The celebration continued with us enjoying a delicious Edible Arrangement sent to us by our first consultant, John.

Banner is live! After almost three years of planning, learning, building, learning, building again, learning, data clean up, testing, more clean up, testing, testing... well you get the idea now of what the Banner journey has been. I am so thankful for the wonderful team of people that have made this long project a success.

This morning I was in the office (yes, on a Saturday!) as our IT guy Dave did the final load of data from the old system into Banner. Thankfully it all went smoothly. Later in the afternoon I worked on some signs to encourage the staff and also to compliment the office decorations I put up earlier. It's a construction theme and hope it will bring a little fun to the office as we all go through this transition. So Monday morning will begin a new era in the Registrar's Office.

An Emotional Week

I think that in the past week I've experienced the whole possible range of emotions from extreme happiness enjoying a surprise visit of a friend to stressing over all that has to be done at work to being sad about the outcome of other things. It's in times like these that my sister always reminds me to stop and think of things that I am thankful for. A great way to put things back into perspective is to think about all the blessings God has given me. I am so thankful for His provision and for my friends and family who love me. And who could not help but smile and be happy when a little ray of sunshine like baby Kate comes around to visit. Today was a great day to eat outside and enjoy her cute little antics and hear her say "Hello!".