…NIZA…

so we went to see jason sharp in concert last night. he was opening for anna nalick. he is so incredibly talented. he did his amazing usual with the guitar and then surprised the audience with a piano number for his last song. way to go jason. you’re the man!

oh yeah… anna nalick was good too

on my way to the concert. i got into a collision that included me but my car was never touched.

i was changing lanes from left to right and this other lady decided to also change into the same lane from right to left. she was a bit behind me to the right and almost hit my car. i heard screeching then i look over and she was right there to my right back, half way in the same lane. she jerked her car to get back to her original lane but lost control of the car. her car spun around, rolled over up the rocky embankment then back down to the highway facing the incoming heavy traffic.

i watched the whole thing in horror through my rear view mirror. i was amazed that no other cars were hit in the chaos. i pulled over, told lucas, erica and mariah (my niece) to stay in the car while i went to make sure she was ok. some people also stopped and were calling 911 already. within minutes the firemen, paramedics and several police cars were there. she was completely in shock.

her car was completely destroyed. one wheel flew off, another was half way eaten up by the cement and rocks, the top was smashed in, glass everywhere but not a scratch on her body or us and our rental car.

i believe there were angels at the scene. what do you think?

here are some pics i took with my cell phone:

her car and a few good samaritans

the rescue heroes

the officer walking away after interrogating me

have you ever had your hands on that delicious grande peppermint hot chocolate that you luuuuuv and were soooo looking forward to drinking, then you take a big gulp and and IT’S NOT your beloved drink but coffee which you hate?

aaarrrrrrrgh… i’m so disappointed. i’m not at starbucks so i can’t fix the problem

has that ever happened to you?

keep dreaming!

then why do i feel like dying? actually, i feel like my best friend just died. brazil is out of the world cup and now my summer just got worse… lol.

———- (days go by) ———-

ok, i wrote that right after the game. i’m over it now… life goes on.

sorry sam for your loss also. i felt your pain. i was looking forward to a brazil vs england match

people say that soccer is a religion in brazil. huh… maybe, at least during the world cup for me… haha.

i’ll be rooting for italy now since tina is part italian. congrats on your win.

nothing much to say right now. we’re still trying to figure out life and it keeps going whether we’re ready or not. in all truth, the future of this clan looks bright, i see the light at the end of the tunnel… it’s a long tunnel but the light is very bright

keep dreaming!

when the world seems dark and dreary… there is always the brazil game to cheer me up.

—— brazil 3 vs ghana 0 ——

PS- please keep us in your prayers.

do you ever feel, at times, like the more you pray the worse things get?

hmmm… i wonder what that’s all about… anybody?

ok, so we didn’t need to win the game against japan because we were already through to the next round, but when japan scored the first goal, and in the first 10 min of the game, i freaked. now that things are back to order and the world makes sense again, i think i’ll go out and get a milkshake

Lord forgive my pride.

congratulations to russ (and australia :)), we’ll be seeing you in the next round also.

alright, the game is about to start and i think we’re gonna win

who are you rooting for? do you dare tell me the truth? hehe.

———————————-

nothing has happened in the first 1/2. brazil is kinda lazy or something. second 1/2 is on now and i hope we get with the program… it’s the freaking world cup for pete’s sake.

———————————-

YEEEEEEES… we just scored our first goal… YEEEEEEEES… that’s what i’m talking about

———————————-

2-0 brazil scores it’s second goal. it’s a certain win now… YES!

australia, you were a tough and challenging adversary.

so, we spent our first week in irvine. good friends of ours set us up in the house of a couple good friends of theirs… ok, that sounds confusing but hopefully not too confusing thanks friends for this awesome gift.

we arrived there raggedy and tired from yet another full day of packing, moving things into whatever crevices we could find in the crates and john’s truck, and cleaning the house for delivery to the landlord.

from the bottom of my heart, i want to thank everyone who came out and helped us, pack, lift and clean. we could not have done it as well and as fast if you weren’t there.

are these the gates of Heaven? no, but close … our irvine destination

the entrance to my dream home

view #1 from our room/guest house

our room is through the doors on the right

view #2 from our room

second set of doors to our room

the kids stayed in the main house. their rooms are through the doors on the left.

while in irvine i had a manicure, a pedicure, a facial and haircut - it’s about 3in shorter. i hardly ever get these done, so it was a real treat

after irvine, we stayed at the embassy suites in arcadia, which is near pasadena, where we came from to begin with, and where we hope to go back to, unless God has other plans.

now we are staying at our friends melvin and lilia while they’re out of town. look at the size of the squash they grow in their back yard! niiiice

being “homeless” hasn’t been too bad after all… haha

keep dreaming!

before i blog on our first “homeless” week, i must blog about brazil’s first cup game.

enjoy the pics:

yes, i made everyone wear a brazil t-shirt

lucas hasn’t been feeling well, so i didn’t make him change, i only required that he wore the brazilian flag on his head =)

now… how can you work and watch the game at the same time?! really?

the flag being brought in

my camera flash indicates ronaldinho’s sainthood status =)

two saints getting ready for action

we just won the game, one point only… but we WON… woohoo… brazil, brazil, braziiiiiiiiiiil

keep dreaming!

it’s almost over. i’m so tired i just feel like giving everything away at this point. i’m tired of trying to figure out how to put things in the crates so we make the most out of the space, and i’m thinking and wondering about the future. what is God up to? meanwhile i’ll continue to pray and hope i learn the right lessons. i big thanks to everyone, for your prayers, and to all who have emailed, called, commented or caught me on ichat . here are some pics of the last three days:

james and linda

patty and stevie

amy

the insight girls

evelyn taking some food home

insight girls deflating my exercise balls

strong guys packing the crates - please come back, alex and i are going to kill each other trying to figure out the best way to pack the darn crates =(

dean and dave loading some stuff on dave’s truck for storage (our sofa didn’t fit in the crates). dean also took all my animals to staci joy’s home.

taking a break to eat some pizza - later we grilled steaks and veggies… yum!

i don’t have a pic of john caterson but he was here too… thanks john =)

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE FOR COMING TO HELP US DO THIS. IT’S BEEN A LOT BETTER BECAUSE YOU’VE BEEN HERE.

keep dreaming!