A Time to Pray, and a Time to Hike

Today was an especially good one, considering I didn't really have any plans except to go to the service at church. And I suppose that's another point about myself that I don't really broadcast. I am a Christian and attend a church called "Reality" which is held in the auditorium of the city college. I really enjoyed the service today, because it focused on the act of praying in order to grow in prayer, something that I feel I've been lacking in lately. The worship music was excellent today as well, so I felt revived.

Some of the ladies from my sister sorority who go to the same church as me decided to take a trip up to the Gaviota Wind Caves, so we piled in a couple of cars and headed up to the trail head. It wasn't a long hike, but the heat and relatively steep ascent made the going slow. It was a great view of the surrounding hills and the ocean in the distance. As per its name, there were multiple caves to explore around inside. with very interesting rock formations made of sandstone.

We got to take a lot of pictures, and eventually kept climbing up the hillside to some bigger caves. The view was great, I saw a blue jay, and we tried to find the travel log that was supposed to be at the top of the caves, but we couldn't locate it. After having a little lunch and doing some more climbing, we decided to make the trip back down, and once we got to one of the lower caves, did a little more climbing on the inside, until my Big Sis saw a rattlesnake...

It was a small juvenile, maybe only a little over a foot long, and after doing a little research, I found it was a Southern Pacific rattlesnake. we took several pictures, but don't worry, we didn't attempt to poke it, though I was contemplating trying to use a stick to take it out of the cave since so many people were coming  through those caves, but ended up deciding to leave it in peace (since of course it Was there first). After a minutes it decided it was sick of our presence and retreated to a corner of the cave, but not after buzzing a little at us. we proceeded to climb around some more, and then headed back to the cars, driving back to SB and snagging some ice-cream.

Overall, it was an excellent, beautiful day, and I feel so blessed to be able to take these kinds of trips with good friends.

Home Improvement and Dance

First off, I think I love Home Depot. When I was a kid, Home Depot was the most boring part of having to accompany my parents on errands, but now that I have responsibilities for a house (especially a house such as this one in which I'm staying) all of the shiny tools, fresh smelling lumber, and multitudes of garden plants seem so appealing. I feel like I need to get everything so I can make the house better and brighter than ever. Because of several holes in our walls and ceiling, I had to get some supplies such as plywood, screws, sand paper, etc. While there I also happened upon a hose....need that, some WD-40, need that too, oh a hacksaw blade, well since I managed to break the last one I should get one, ah, and look at these scissors, we always manage to lose everyone else's so why not get a set for the house. While waiting for confirmation on getting the hose, I decided to go look at all of the lovely plants outside, and would you believe that there's such a thing as mint that smells like lemons, or orange, or even chocolate?! I discovered these amazing plants and fought with myself over buying them since I don't think I would actually use them for anything. I guess I just have a tendency to want to grow things, hence my already growing corn, cabbage, green onions, and now a terrarium egg thing that is supposed to grow about 5 different herbs. Who knows if I'll ever actually use anything, but hey, it's nice to have the option.
After dinner, I went to the ballroom dance class that the campus Cotillion hosts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's been such a fun experience getting to better the skills that I learned during the year, and tonight we focused on Lindy-Hop, something I had never done before, even though it is a form of swing, the Viennese Waltz, my all-time favorite, and then the samba, which is a pain in my but because I'm not exactly great at being able to move my hips. To cut things short, I had a blast, but ended up being extremely sweaty and exhausted, but still managed to go to Silvergreens to socialize with the dance group, which I've found has made the actual lessons much easier since you can dance with a familiar face.
Well, I know this wasn't exactly the most exciting post, but it's my life, and maybe something better will come in the future. For now, here's a picture before I head to bed....(yes, it's late, and I'm tired, so this is random).

Port of Call

Well, I figured that it would be a nice change of pace to perhaps start this little blog to write down my thoughts and feelings, and experiences, not because I think anyone will actually take interest in them, but more because I have a terrible memory, so if I record things it will be a way to keep my own thoughts organized. Perhaps I will have something more interesting to talk about in the future, but for now, this is all I have. Maybe I'll make this post more frequent than I thought.