30 years

Not everyone gets a 30th birthday celebration the way Steve did this year. I was determined to make it special and I think I succeeded. Not without the help of many of our greatest friends though. I definitely could not have done it on my own.
So it started out on Friday the 18th. We had planned to meet a couple for dinner and then go to the Boyz II Men concert at the Utah State Fair. The tickets were free but still, due to seating, we needed a ticket. I was really upset when we got there to get tickets and they were gone. I thought our whole night was ruined. My friend suggested I look on KSL to see if anyone changed their mind about going and would you believe that people were selling their “free” tickets. I was frustrated but we did end up getting our tickets, so that’s all that mattered. After dinner at Diamond Lil’s we headed to the fair and got seated for the show. It was really great. The guys from Boyz II Men are a little older but it sure didn’t show in their performance. It was excellent!
Sunday at church Steve and I were invited by some friends of ours to go see a movie, upon arrival Steve found out that it wasn’t just them but a group there to surprise him for his birthday. I had arranged it ahead of time for Steve friends to come and see the movie “All About Steve”. It was a great movie, we all laughed so much our cheeks hurt and then went to dinner afterward at La Puenta. Having friends there to share Steve’s birthday was excellent and I’m so glad they joined us! On our way to the restaurant I told Steve that there was another surprise that I had for him. I told him to ask for the days off for us to go to San Diego on Tuesday. I had wanted to arrange his days off ahead of time and not tell him what was going on until we were already on our way, but that didn’t work out since I didn’t get his supervisor’s phone number to request his days off.
So after spending my day on Monday packing and making the necessary arrangements with our friends that were already in San Diego. They were staying at a time share and had already been there for almost a week. We would not have been able to go if they hadn’t invited us to join them at their condo and if my mom didn’t work for Jet Blue. We were very blessed by having to pay very little for the whole vacation. Not to mention my mom’s willingness to watch Allie for the days we were gone.
So our flight out there went very smooth. We had no line to check in, no line through security and after the plane took off and reached 37000 feet we were free to move to whatever seats we wanted. So Steve and I both had window seats, which was a lot of fun. We landed a little early and called our friends to come get us, then headed for the Navy base on Coronado Island. After a quick lunch and a stop to buy our Sea World tickets we headed straight to the beach. I hadn’t really planned on getting in the water since I have a small sand phobia, but I went ahead and got in anyway, it wasn’t so bad, and after I caught a glimpse of a dolphin off in the distance I forgot all about that nasty sand. We spent the better half of the day there having a great time.
The next day we planned to spend the day at Sea World. We got there just before it opened and were there till closing. Our first show was Believe, the Shamu show. It seemed to go by so quick and I wanted more! After that we went to Shipwreck Rapids, which is a lot like Rattlesnake Rapids at Lagoon. Thankfully we put the cameras in a locker because we got drenched! Then we headed to the other side of the park for the Pet show, which was a lot of fun. We also rode Journey to Atlantis, the roller coaster. That was a lot of fun, after doing the big drop and getting splashed by water you go into a large tube that happens to be a not so sturdy elevator that goes up quite a ways and sends you back down another drop. It’s pretty short but lots of fun. We were able to make it to the SLL show (Sea Lions Live) which was very entertaining. We saw everything there except the Clydesdales and we didn’t go on the chair lift or the viewing station thing, but we’ll definitely hit those next time! By the end of the day we were all very tired and ready to get back to the hotel to relax. We had some dinner and hung out in the hot tub for a while. We met a group from Utah while in the hot tub, that was pretty funny.
Our first plans were to come home on Thursday but we had been having such blast that I called my mom and asked for an extra day. So Thursday morning Steve and I hung out at the condo while our friends went to Tijuana to buy some Mexican goodies. When they got back we headed back out to Coronado for some fun at the beach. On our way out to Coronado we could see the fog off in the distance and it looked thick. Sure enough when we got to the beach we saw that the fog was very thick. I stayed up on the beach and read my book and wrote in my journal. I really enjoyed listening to the waves and relaxing by myself. The fog was so thick that I couldn’t even see Steve and our friends playing in the water and little droplets of water were gathering on my arm, my book, my journal and I was a little cold but really it was worth it. Every once and a while I would see someone walk by, or sea gulls would come invade my space, no doubt searching for more jerky like they had taken out of my purse the first day I was there. It started to get dark and I was getting a little nervous about not being able to see. It wasn’t much longer before everyone came back to where I was sitting and we headed out. We left the fog on Coronado Island and when we got to the condo we headed out to the pool where we played silly “guess what sea world animal” games and met an Aussie couple in the hot tub. I enjoyed quizzing them about the differences in our culture vs. theirs and found out that they have their own version of Dancing With the Stars that I must find online for my viewing pleasure.
Friday morning we wanted to fit one last tourist attraction in before heading to the air port. We went to Old Town to see some of the museums and walk around some of the shops and such. We had breakfast at a place called O’Hungrys. After walking around Old Town for a little bit we headed back to the car to go vacuum the sand out and return the rental. There was a slight issue with car rental that was quickly resolved and we were off to the airport. This time the flight was almost full and we didn’t have the luxury of sitting next to the window. I had a bit of a hard time with the movement of the plane and I think I may have experienced a small case of air sickness. Thankfully I didn’t throw up and the flight was over pretty quick. Steve’s brother picked us up from the airport and I was very glad to see Allie when we got home. It was such a short trip that it’s hard to imagine that I was there just a couple days ago. I can’t wait to go back. I’m already planning the next trip, we want to take Jordan, it will be a great experience for him.

Introduction: Should We Let a Theologian in The Shack?

Ok so I was I sitting there flapping my gums, minding my own business when a book sitting on top of the file cabinet caught my eye. Finding God in The Shack by Randal Rauser. So I asked "What's this?” After a little explanation I was offered to take it home and read it. "Let me know what you think, Grace read it but she didn't like it." I was interested so I gladly shoved it in my purse and started reading it the first chance I got. I have a tendency to pick a book up and then get bored and put it down. Because of this I have about 5 open books right now; actually it's honestly probably more like 10. Despite my bad habit of not finishing books I have dedicated myself to finishing this book with full report on what I liked and didn't like and why. I don't think I'll be having a problem finishing this book though; I was only on page 2 when I made my first note.

Although I was aware of the book's basic premise, when I finally read the book I
was struck by the boldness of the narrative as William P. Young confronted evil
in all its ugliness. In a day when many Christian bookstores are full of volumes
on "victorious Christian living" but few, if any, on the dark night of the soul,
The Shack was distinctive for forcing the reader to confront a truly unthinkable
crime. Even more impressive, the narrative did not stop with a safe appeal for
justice for all, but instead pushed the reader on to the possibility that within
God's world forgiveness could extend even to Missy's killer. This profound and
daring treatment of evil was complemented by a depiction of God that was
striking in its innovation and theological sophistication.Pg 2, Finding God in The Shack

This was only page 2! I couldn't believe how well he hit the nail on the head; this was exactly why I liked The Shack. Then he went even further to talk about why people are maybe missing the whole point of the book by getting hung up on the little things, allowing "busyness to crowd out reflection on the meaning of life".

The situation reminds me of the film Jack Frost, which tells the unlikely story
of a man named Jack Frost (played by Michael Keaton) who dies in a car accident
on Christmas Eve. One year later he returns to his grieving wife and son
reincarnated as a snowman, wouldn't you immediately interrogate him on the
nature of life after death, the meaning of life, the nature of God-something
along those lines? But Jack's young son Charlie is more concerned with
enlisting his snowman father to beat the neighborhood bullies in a snowball
fight. So preoccupied is he with trivialities that he never broaches even
one profound question with his father. While we may find it hard to
understand Charlie’s lack of interest in his father's unusual afterlife, the
fact is that there are many "Charlie Frost Christians" who are more preoccupied
with the trivial equivalents of bullies and snowball fights than life's most
important questions. Pg 3, Finding God in The Shack.

A very profound point the Theologian author was making. The author of The Shack has so much to show us, but we could be missing out on all of that getting hung up on "Papa". The author then ends the Introduction by saying:

After All, it is through wrestling with new ideas that one learns to deal with the nuance and complexity that characterizes an intellectually mature faith. The Shack will not answer all our questions, nor does it aspire to. But we can be thankful that it has started a great conversation.

I couldn't agree more.