Going a little green

Jon and I have been talking about trading in our Volvo wagon for a new vehicle for a while. We have not been happy with it, but we really wanted more space and better gas mileage. So we started researching hybrid vehicles. We spent quite a bit of time Memorial Day weekend reading and driving various vehicles. We decided that the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid was the best one for us. So on Monday we were able to trade in our Volvo along with a chunk of cash and ongoing car payments for our first brand new vehicle. We are excited to be getting much better gas mileage in our new Kiwi Escape. So we are going "green" in a couple of ways.

It will be great to have more space for our trip and future camping trips along with the benefit of better gas mileage and lower emissions.

Sheryl

Future plans

This week was rather difficult and I spent a lot of it feeling depressed or in a fog. We made the decision to stay with the Marine Corps, so on Tuesday Jon requested orders for two more years. You can read the details on Jon's blog at http://jarhedjon.blogspot.com/.

The job search process was not easy for me. I felt a strong sense that I needed to "stay out of it" and allow Jon to do the search his way. He sought professional advice and used various online services to find jobs that would fit his abilities and interests. There were some options that would require a move and we decided not to go that direction. There was what seemed to be a perfect civilian job that would have allowed Jon to continue to relate to the Marine Corps from the "safety" of a job that would not deploy him. However, that company is still in the middle of their contract negotiations with the Marine Corps and so were unable to offer Jon a job prior to May 15, the date when ongoing orders with the MC needed to be requested.

So I am sad. It is very likely that Jon will deploy to Iraq with the MEF (Marine Expeditionary Force) in January 2008 for another year. Knowing what lies ahead does not make it any easier to anticipate. Knowing how Joshua has responded since Jon returned home makes me feel uneasy about how he will react to another deployment. None of this is fun, but I do feel that Jon did the best job search he could. He is, after all, a Marine and enjoys the job he has. That is very important to both of us, so I am trusting that this is the way the Lord is leading our lives right now. It gives me a sense of peace, although I am still struggling.

Fortunately I have had a fun "escape" this week. We have been hoping to take a road trip this summer, but were waiting to see what happened with Jon's job situation. Now we know and so now I can plan. I have spent hours online and with my AAA maps planning our trip. I won't go into all the details, but we hope to leave the week after school is out -- June 27 and head east along Route 66. Yes, Joshua is excited to follow the route from the movie "Cars." We will take a few days to get through Arizona and New Mexico. Then we'll leave Route 66 in Amarillo and head for Dallas and other parts of Texas to visit friends and family. We plan to get as far east as Crossville, Tennessee, to spend a few days with Jon's folks. Then we'll head north to see family in Indiana. We'll pick up Route 66 again outside of Chicago and visit friends all the way to St. Louis. Once again we'll get off the route and head west on I-70. After seeing friends in Colorado, we'll spend the final 5 days of our trip camping in the various National and State parks of Utah. I am hoping to introduce Jon and Joshua to The Narrows, which I was able to hike two years ago. We want to take Joshua to Hoover Dam and camp on Lake Meade. We anticipate getting home the end of July. If you live anywhere along this route, and I have not contacted you yet, please let us know if you'd like us to drop by and we'll see what we can do. I'm looking forward to a wonderful family adventure this summer.

Thank you all for your prayers.

One final heads-up for those of you in Southern Orange County. We have finally been able to plan our Thank You event for you all. I will send out an evite to those of you whose e-mails I have, so if you don't get one, please let me know. We plan to have a beach party down at San Onofre Recreational Beach on Camp Pendleton on Saturday, June 2nd. We will provide lunch, but people are welcome to come hang out any time all day, just let us know when you will be coming so we have enough food.

Sheryl

Spring Festival

The Spring Festival seems to have been a huge success. My gauge was based on how last year's PTA Board felt about the event. They all kept saying, "Wow! I was able to work the event AND have time with my child." or "Everything is going so smoothly." I heard that from the principal as well, so that was good. Even the custodian complimented me a couple days afterwards.

We ended up with around 200 volunteers for the event so every booth was open the whole evening and our clean up was done in an hour. We had plenty of food and no injuries. Our secondary goal was to raise funds to purchase library books. Last year they raised about $2,000 so that was our goal this year. We ended up raising over $5,000, so everyone was very pleased.

These pictures should give you an idea of the event. We had a dozen community booths (a fire truck, police services, San Juan Mission, petting zoo, Mission Hospital, etc.). We had a dozen games that kids could play to win prizes along with an inflated obstacle course and giant slide. Of course there was also food -- a dinner of taquitos, rice & beans and the typical carnival food (cotton candy, kettle corn, corn on the cob, sodas, Dippin Dots).

I have gotten a lot of praise for the event, but I had a team of about 20 people who really did all the work -- I just followed up with them, sent out millions of e-mails and tried to keep our meetings to a minimum. Thanks for praying.

Sheryl

Crazy Days

I could use prayer today and tomorrow. Friday is the Spring Festival at San Juan Elementary School -- Joshua's school. I am coordinating this event with the help of about 15 awesome committee members and hundreds of parent volunteers. It is a big job and of course lots of last minute challenges arise. To top it off this weekend the Y Malawi Steering Team, that I have been on for a couple years, is meeting here in Orange County and I am trying to help this small team with various logistics. It has been a crazy week.

Please pray for peace for me and that I will live the life I am called to. Thanks.

Sheryl