Interrupting My Reflecting…

…because of the glorious sunshine!

Dear and I headed out in the sunshine for a walk on the Burke Gilman Trail. This trail runs along Lake Washington.

The seagulls and ducks were excited because someone had thrown some bread on the end of the dock.

This bird is not a seagull or a duck and a lot larger. Couldn’t identify what it is. It didn’t have a white head like a bald eagle.

We walked off the trail to check out this small preserve.

I believe Lake Washington is the 2nd largest lake in the state of Washington.

It was windy enough to make waves on the lake.

Our walk and this day was just ducky! Everyone we encountered was smiling and expressing jubilation over the wonderful sunshine.

Hope your week has been just ducky, too.

The College Years

My college years spanned from 1968 to 1973. I had a fifth year for my teaching credential and student teaching.

For my first year of college I went away about 60 miles east of my home to the University of Redlands.

My college roommate was Violet (Violeta). Her major was Spanish. After my first year I decided to move back home and commute to Cal-State Los Angeles to finish my college years.

Back in the Los Angeles area Heidi’s family and mine attended Bethany Baptist Russian Church in L.A. and we became the best of friends. This friendship continues to this day. In fact, all these friendships that I show here are still intact.

We went on an a trip together in the summer of 1970 to Michigan and New Jersey with side trips to Buffalo (Niagara Falls), New York City, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Washington D.C. This was the first time I flew in an airplane.

These are my and Heidi’s Russian friends from Buffalo, New York and San Francisco. None of us went to Stanford although I did apply to go there but was not accepted. The photo above was taken on the day of the Rose Parade in Pasadena. Stanford was playing someone in the Rose Bowl Game. This was either January 1st, 1971 or 1972.

While in college Jeaneen and I met in our Home Economics classes and a new friendship was started. I introduced Jeaneen to my cousin Jim and they ended up getting married. We’ve had many great times together through the years. After marriage the four of us continued our friendship. We both had homes in Huntington Beach and we attended the same church while we lived in H.B.

I met Dear in my college years in 1972. My friend Heidi auditioned for the Christian singing group that Dear was part of and I met him at the concerts that I’d attend with Heidi. After a summer tour in England the group needed an alto so I auditioned for the group. That fall Dear and I started dating and September 6th of 1973 he asked my father for my hand in marriage.

While in college at Cal-State L.A. I had a part-time job at Montgomery Ward in their parts department. I paid my own way through college but I lived at home so my parents fed me and never charged me rent.

I graduated from Cal-State with a degree in Home Economics and earned my teaching certificate. The photo above is myself and Dear and my brother and me. Besides Fred and me graduating at this time my cousin Jim and my friend Jeaneen and another friend from my Russian Baptist church, Alex, graduated with us.

Some significant things that happened while I was in college besides what I shared already:

My sister Vera got married in November of 1969.

During Summer quarter in 1970 I came down with a terrible sore throat one week before finals. Then I broke out in a rash all over my body. When I went to the doctor they had me come in the back door and straight to an examination room. The doctor diagnosed Scarlet Fever and sent me home on bed rest with medications. While in the doctors office the doctor kept bringing in all the nursing staff there to see what Scarlet Fever looked like. OYE. I was flat on my back in bed and very sick for a couple of weeks. My sister Kathy was planning a trip to England with her best friend so the doctor put her on antibiotics (precautionary). My poor sister ended up being allergic to the antibiotic and broke out in hives all over her body on the day of my cousin Alex’s wedding. She was quite upset but went to the wedding anyway. I missed all my finals and had to take them the beginning of Fall quarter. Needless to say that wasn’t a great quarter for my grade average!

My brother Fred got married in April of 1972.

There was a gasoline shortage in 1973 where there was rationing and we could only buy gas on odd or even days depending on our license plate ending number.

Lynden B. Johnson (63-69) and Richard M. Nixon (69-74) were the Presidents of the United States during my college years.

My next post will be about post college years with my engagement and wedding.

My youngest brother and older sister both commented on my Hume Lake post that I forgot to mention another epic thing that happened in 1963, the year I was saved. How could I ever forget the fact that my mother delivered twins at the end of July that summer? A little girl and a little boy born and my parents now had four boys and four girls under their roof! My father had no idea my mother was having twins and only found out when he got home from work. (no cell phones and my father worked at remote sites with no phones) My little brother Tim ran out to the car to greet him when he pulled into the driveway from work and said, “Pop, not one baby, two babies!” My poor father was in shock!

I leave you with this sweet photo of our little twins Cvetlana (Lana) and Leonard from 1963! They are the icing on the cake for our family.

People! I’m seeing sunshine outside my window and blue skies and very few clouds. This is cause for a celebration here in the Pacific Northwest! We have had rain, rain and more rain for a nice long stretch now and what a welcome sight the blue skies are this morning.

Hume Lake Christian Camps

In my 66th year I continue my reflections on my life with a very significant year, 1963, my twelfth year on this earth. A year with a decision that has shaped the rest of my life.

Nestled close to Kings Canyon National Park in California’s Sierra Nevada is the Youth Camp that I was able to attend in 1963, 1965 and 1967. I was 12, 14, and 16 during these wilderness adventures.

I was raised in a family who attended church regularly and often, very religious. The church I was raised in gave me the impression that because I was Russian and a member of their church that I had an exclusive connection with God. What I learned at Bible Camp was that the only exclusive connection I could have to God was through Jesus Christ and what He did for me on the cross. Being Russian and being a part of my father’s religion did not give me a direct link to God. In 1963 at Hume Lake while listening to a speaker talk about Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross to save sinners I was moved to step out and become a follower of Jesus. God’s plan of salvation was exclusively through his perfect son Jesus, who is fully God and came to earth to live a perfect life among us and be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. I knew I was one of those sinners and I needed a Savior. This decision began a journey of ups and downs, highs and lows, but a journey forward with my God and Savior. When I began my new life following Jesus I was clothed with His righteousness and reconciled to God. I continue on this walk, never perfectly but with God’s grace I carry on. He will be teaching me by His Holy Spirit all the days of my life. My God and Savior is and will be faithful to see me through all of my life on this earth and I look forward with the Hope of seeing Him face to face in heaven. During this same year, 1963, my father began his journey of following Jesus after hearing Billy Graham at the Los Angeles Coliseum share the truth of Jesus Christ and why He came to earth over 2000 years ago. 1963 was an epic year for me and my family. For my father and me we became part of God’s movement of love and grace through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My mother was a follower of Jesus when she married my father. My two older sisters had started following Jesus before my father and me.

I’ll share this verse that Billy Graham proclaims in every interview I’ve ever heard him give. John 14:6 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

HUME LAKE CHRISTIAN CAMP 1967

Reflections of my story from age 18 onward of my life will continue in another post.

Presently we are still waiting for that phone call. We are happy for it coming later than sooner since baby Addy is enjoying the womb and continues her growth in that comfort. We have a bag partially packed so we don’t have to wonder about something we forgot. We keep the car gassed up and ready to go. We are still in a very rainy pattern here in the Pacific Northwest. Plants should flourish well here this Spring. How goes it where you live?

Just Because…

…today marks my sixty sixth year on this earth, I reflect.

I was the fifth child born to my Russian immigrant parents.

I arrived on the scene just four years after my parents settled in East Los Angeles from Tehran, Iran.

Our first sister died before she turned two in Iran and that’s why you only see four of the five of us born to my parents here.

Our mom always made sure we had new clothes for going to church on Easter and Christmas.

After 7 years of being the baby of the family my brother Tim arrived. We were still in the black and white photograph era. In the fourth grade I memorized these verses from the Bible in the King James Version and these verses are still among my favorite from God’s Word. I was on a journey that would lead me to a significant event in my life when I was twelve. I’ll share that in a later post.

John 14: 1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

After Tim and moving on to the color film era three more siblings were added to our family, the last two being twins. Oops, my older brother Fred is absent from the photo above. These reflections are from my first eighteen years.

I will add more reflections on my sixty six years in the days to come. For now the most significant change that will come to me in my sixty sixth year is that I will be able to hold my first grand baby, Addy, for the first time.

That will be a very nice gift for my sixty sixth year as I move on to the Baba/Grandmother stage of my life. More to come. I’m headed out on a little birthday adventure with Dear today. I am blessed. I’ll check in later to see your posts.

Linking up to ABC Wednesday for J is for Just because…thank you jubilant hosts.

A Sunday Drive…

On Sunday after church Dear and I drove up to Snohomish County and enjoyed the views.

We enjoyed lots of country scenes.

We turned down the roads less traveled and saw new things.

In the town of Snohomish there are many grand old homes that I wouldn’t mind living in with these welcoming porches.

Some old churches have been turned into wedding venues.

Since we attend the 8am service at our church we still have a few morning hours to enjoy out and about after church. We had breakfast in Snohomish at Jake’s Diner and drove down some new roads stopping at the grocery store before heading home so I would have the key ingredient in a new recipe I wanted to try. I’ll be posting that recipe on the Mennonite Can Cook Blog later in March.

Linking up to The Barn Collective with Tom the Backroads Traveller and to Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life.

The Glory of These Forty Days ~ Hymn

The Glory of These Forty Days

The glory of these forty days
We celebrate with songs of praise;
For Christ, by whom all things were made,
Himself has fasted and has prayed.

Alone and fasting Moses saw
The loving God who gave the law;
And to Elijah, fasting, came
The steeds and chariots of flame.

So Daniel trained his mystic sight,
Delivered from the lions’ might;
And John, the Bridegroom’s friend, became
The herald of Messiah’s name.

Then grant us, Lord, like them to be
Full oft in fast and prayer with Thee;
Our spirits strengthen with Thy grace,
And give us joy to see Thy face.

O Father, Son, and Spirit blest,
To thee be every prayer addressed,
Who art in threefold name adored,
From age to age, the only Lord.

Words attributed to Gregory I, 6th century.

Marching On…

Even though we have webbed feet Seattleites are getting weary of the rain and lack of sunshine in these parts. On Wednesday we had a window of dryness with some sunshine so Dear and I took our standard walk about the neighborhood. The photo above is of one of our 5 Rhododendron plants budding. This is our state flower.

Along our walk there is a pond that our webbed feet friends enjoy. We are getting some nice signs that Spring will come like clockwork.

Friday morning it was warmer than usual so I went outside to do some planter clean up. I raked and trimmed some bushes with my nifty new hedge trimmer. I stopped to take some more photos of one of my favorites, the Lenten Rose (Hellebore).

Then on Friday late in the morning the sun broke through in all it’s glory and we were ready to leap like these youngsters but we chose to walk instead along the waterways in Kirkland Washington after enjoying lunch here. This sculpture is a bronze created by Glena Goodacre called “Puddle Jumpers”. Purchased for the city of Kirkland by city residents and businesses in 2001.

We have a bag partially packed and the gas tank full for when we get the call that our daughter-in-law is admitted to the hospital. Fun times. Thank you dear friends for your kind words and suggestions to us as we enter the world of grandparent land.

Waiting…

A season of waiting makes for introspection. Some is good and some is not so good. In the world of blogging right now I’m not so good at getting around to many participants in my favorite weekly memes. I will cut down on some so I can do better with others. It doesn’t sit well with my brain and my comfort to be a “hit and run participant”.

I use feedly to keep track of the blogs I don’t want to miss any new posts from. I hope to add more blogs to this site as I search out more faithful bloggers out there.

We are in the season of Lent and Dear and I have set aside something together that we enjoy on a regular basis for this season. So maybe this is a kind of Spring cleaning time in my life.

We are on the alert for the arrival of our little Addy. God knows the timing on this and we will be hitting the road post haste when we get that phone call.

If you don’t see anything new here for a stretch of days don’t get the wrong idea. Blogging and bloggers are near and dear to me. I’m not giving up. Here are some verses from God’s Word on waiting in the English Standard Version.

Isaiah 40:31:

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

Psalm 27: 13-14

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord!

Psalm 33: 20-22

Our soul waits for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
For our heart is glad in him,
    because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you.

Psalm 130: 5-6

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
    more than watchmen for the morning,
    more than watchmen for the morning.

Isaiah 64: 4

From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.

1 Kings 2: 3

and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn,

Far from Perfect Hodgepodge…

1. What is one area of your life where you’re a perfectionist? Is that a good thing?

Cleaning. Now, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea with this answer. My house is NOT that house that is always spic and span and where you can see vacuum trails and everything sparkles and you can smell cleaning solutions and you are afraid to sit down for fear of messing something up. But…when I do finally decide to clean an area of my home I go for every corner and nook and cranny and behind and under. That’s when I can announce that it’s clean! This is a photo of me getting ready to wash the floors on my hands and knees. Perfection??

Knee pads. Three pocket apron where I like to keep glass cleaning rags in one side and on the opposite side non glass cleaning rags. Never mix chlorine and ammonia as in bleach cleaners and window cleaners! Middle pocket I use for trash and other things I pick up along the way.

The hard side of what I define as clean is when we rent a place to stay and someone says it’s clean and I can see dust bunnies and all other kinds of things that are not clean. I get miffed especially when they add in a $200 cleaning deposit!

Last but not least I want to say I enjoy a cozy home, it does not have to be perfectly cleaned, unless I’m paying for it to be clean.

2. What’s something you find perfectly ridiculous?

Older women in leggings without their bum covered with a long top.

3. What’s a skill you’ve developed by way of that old fashioned saying, ‘practice makes perfect?

Being able to put a meal together that’s edible in a flash or over the course of a day with whatever is in the pantry or refrigerator or with all the special ingredients shopped for ahead of time. In other words, we can eat like common folk or like kings and queens at this old house because of much trial and error and success in the kitchen. There’s very little fear in my kitchen today except for my latest conquests that involve waiting for yeast to rise!

Growing up and into my adulthood before I was married my mother made every meal including school lunches for her 8 children. Her love language was putting food in front of us. Kids in our Russian culture stayed home until they got married. I did not cook or bake or do anything (maybe I made cookies) in my mother’s kitchen growing up. When I got married is when it was all on me. This wasn’t as bad as it sounds because I did learn from watching my mother that many great things are possible in the kitchen with limited resources. I should mention my major in college was Home Economics and I learned a lot in those school years.

4. What’s your idea of a perfect breakfast?

Something savory with a little something sweet, too.

5. What’s a trip, holiday, vacation, or day outing you’ve taken that you’d rate a perfect 10? Tell us why.

Any trip we’ve taken to Great Britain ranks a perfect 10 in my book. Why? The history, the architecture, the pubs, the Full English Breakfasts, the scenery, the museums, the cathedrals, the Bed and Breakfast establishments, the villages, cobblestones, castles, Austen, Tolkien, Sayers, Lewis. Should I go on? Long live the Queen!

6. What quote or saying perfectly sums up your life right now? If you can’t do perfect, how about one that comes close?

“Practically Perfect in Every Way” I think this quote can cover most anything because of the practically part! I don’t expect perfection on this earth. I’m looking forward to perfection when I see Jesus face to face.

^{Philippians 3:12-14}I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.

7. How would you spend $300 today?

On baby equipment that a granny/baba would find useful to have in her home. If you have any suggestions let me know. What have you found useful? I’m thinking of looking at garage sales for some of this kind of stuff.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

March is an exciting month for our family. Our little Addy will be making her debut before the month is over. Our son and daughter-in-law will be a daddy and mommy for the first time. Our daughter and son-in-law celebrate 6 years of marriage. I’ll be a year older very soon and I intend to celebrate all month long. Spring arrives in March! Can I hear an amen!? Spring flowers will be popping up all over.

Thank you Joyce From This Side of the Pond for asking the questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Click over to join in the fun.

Barn Mosaics

We spent the last 7 days of February with our kids in Northeastern Washington. We saw many great scenes like these from the road. The photo above is of a barn that you will probably see in many different seasons as it happens to be one we have to pass to get to our kid’s home.

This mosaic above is on our road trip to Dan and Jamie’s along Highway 395 after getting off I-90 and heading north of Spokane.

This series in the mosaic above are on the road on our way back home just off Highway 395.

This last barn with the quilt was taken off Interstate 90 in Cle Elum. We are just on the East side of Snoqualmie Pass and the area that can be the most troublesome in our journey about an hour and a half from home. Thankfully on this day we didn’t encounter anything that hindered our journey. We are always thankful to God for traveling mercies.

Some of my family favorites from our time in Eastern Washington. History being made with family.

Linking up to The Barn Collective with Tom the Backroads Traveller and

Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life.

Our end of the week and weekend was not ordinary at all and we were called upon to care and support someone we love. I won’t share the story because it’s not mine to share on social media. We spent some time in an emergency hospital waiting room where we were exposed to a lot of drama from other people waiting to be cared for and a couple others who were just there to cause trouble. We got to see one of those people escorted out and into a police car. Most of all we experienced caring and kind nurses and doctors and public safety officers who were as thorough as they could be to give help. I was struck with how challenged police officers, fire fighters, doctors, nurses and other staff people are in the whole public service areas of our communities.

Hope you all had a good weekend whether it was ordinary or crazy!

This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24 (ESV)

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage