Pico's Day Out

Pico is quite a wuss. I'm not gunna lie (thanks Carrie for that line). However, whenever I go outside to sit on the patio, he sits by the door meowing and pleading to be let out. So, the other day while Natalie was visiting we decided to let him out with us. I was like an overprotective mother that smothers her kid with sunscreen, puts floaties on both arms and legs and puts goggles on the kid. When Pico gets scared he RUNS, so we had to take the necessary precautions. Hence the fact that he had his baby blue collar with name tag attached to it, harness and leash on. Please note that the collar has a bell attached to it - so we always know where he is.

 Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure.

By the end of our tea-drinking time he was so exhausted and just wanted to be inside and sleep. He's so odd!

CVS and their scrolls

When the rest of the world is turning green from all it's environment-friendly freaks, CVS is doing everything in their power to resist this fashionable notion. It never ceases to amaze me every time I go to CVS and they print out a scroll of a receipt. Have they not caught on to the waste of paper that is occurring in their very own stores on a daily basis? Come on CVS, jump on the green train!

By the way this receipt was for a purchase of one shampoo bottle valued at $4.99. ridiculous.

This year so far...

This year has been unbelievable so far: in more ways than one. The first reason for this statement would be how extremely busy Jono and I have been. It feels as though a summer just went by, even though it was only Jan, Feb and March. Let me list a few of the things contributing to our busyness:

1. I started attending community college. Community College is a grand 'ole thing... if you don't have a job or a life! What makes it so busy is my film production class, requiring approximately 14hrs a week (which obviously wasn't stated in the class schedule). Even though I complain quite a bit about this factor in my life, I have really enjoyed it: meeting new people, learning some new things and changing the usual routine up a bit.

2. Wintercamp. Wintercamp rolls around every year around the end of February. Our first year here I was frustrated with the concept of Wintercamp. My reasoning was: "Why should we spend so much money and time on taking christian students up the mountain to experience God, when they can do that in their own bedrooms?"

I have since then seen the fruits of Wintercamp, and now find myself looking forward to it every year. This year was especially amazing because 4 other churches joined us this time. Namely: Calvary Chapel Carlsbad, East Hills Community Church, Southlands Church int. and Ridgecrest church of the nazarene. The most amazing thing was to experience the unity God gave us as churches. We had sooo much fun together: all 169 of us!

For more info and pictures on wintercamp, visit Carrie's blog.

Jono doing his thing:

Standard:

Melissa doing her thing

Do you see how tired i look?

Dave & Alyson Reinhardt joined us for the weekend: Love Them!

3. Redeemed Girls conference. Redeemed took place this past weekend and it was AWESOME. This event has been a long time coming, first being birthed during Christmas of 2007.  God did some wonderful things this weekend in all the girls' lives. I looked back on my teenage years and remembered how events like this impacted my life and stayed with me as I grew up. 

4. Tanzania Mission trip: August 2009. I am so excited about this trip. We will be partnering with Hope of the Nations in Kigoma Tanzania. However, there is so much to do before we can go, and so the next few months are lined up with fundraisers and much more. Please be praying for the team as we step out in faith believing this is what God wants for us.

5. And then there is standard everyday stuff: Youth group every wednesday, young adults, skate park outreach, staff meetings, prayer walks, finding a reliable car, home fellowship and pico (he needs attention too).

Wednesday nights:

It feels good to have done so much in this first portion of the year, I'm just so tired.

Laugh or Cry?

A dear friend of ours, Nate Pollet, introduced us to this video. I don't know who produced it.. but whoever they are : they're brilliant. As hilarious as this video is, it certainly captures the ugly side of american youth ministry.If Jono and I ever become like this, please slap some sense into us!

Ignatius from travis hawkins on Vimeo.

English 1A, I'll miss you

This semester I took the GE required English 1A class with Miss Suki Fisher. It is an 8 week class. This Tuesday will be our last class, and I am so sad that it's done! I never thought I would enjoy this class the most out of all the classes I'm taking. 

We always had great conversations during class, breaching topics such as: serial killers, adultery, God, faith, moral code and the differences between men and women. I even met another South African in this class! The crazy thing is that we only figured out that we are both from SA 6 weeks into the class. He has managed to disguise his accent quite a bit, and he thought I was from Australia. Australia. Really?

I really enjoyed the way Miss Fisher taught, always up for interesting discussion. And, along the way I also learnt a lot about writing structure. That's always good I guess?

I think I'm going to take cupcakes to class on Tuesday.

Wazzup?

Don't you just hate it when people greet you like this: "Whats up man?" Could a question be any more vague? I never know how to respond - do they expect me just to say hi, to tell them what I'm doing right at that moment or what's going on in my life and what my short- and long term goals are.

Whatever happened to a cordial "Hey, how're you doing?"

Great Video

My sister introduced me to this gem of a video. I love it, and I'm blown away at the originality and story line. Well done to whoever you are!

Re-generations Nat King Cole

A.ma.zing. album. Love it.

A tribute to PICO

Frank first suggested that Pico be the catalyst for me to start a blog. I very well could have done that: Pico provides enough entertainment and stories to sustain a full time blog. We're coming up on his 1 yr birthday. unbelievable. I can't believe we've almost had him a year! He's been such a delight from the day we got him. What I love most about Pico is that he always has to be around us - every moment. If I leave the kitchen to go to the bedroom, he's on my heels, following me all the way.

It isn't all fun and games with Pico though. He has a fetish with flowers. I can't have fresh flowers in the house anymore, because he'll eat them. Now I have to resort to doing this:

Hiding the flowers in the bathroom closet. 

As a strategy to get him not to scratch the furniture, we started giving him a treat every time he uses his scratching post. Now he does it all the time. He always does it when we first get home, and then very half heartedly about another 4 times, always looking over to see if we've noticed. I think he's on to us, taking advantage of "the system".

His latest trick is opening cupboards. Sometimes I come home, and all the kitchen and bathroom cupboards are open. It's quite funny watching him do it - I have yet to catch it on video.The other day I got home and the freezer door was open. the freezer. Now thats impressive! 

We lost all his kitten pictures when our computer crashed a few months ago, but here are some of my more recent favorites:

We like to call this one: "Pico in a box"