4th of July Pics - Scroll Down for the Blog...

Life in a Northern Town...

Yes, another song. While this is probably not the best song to give a glimpse of life in a small town, it's one I like. So bear with me...

The 4th of July. At home, it's not really that big of a deal. You may barbeque, may swim, probably will get a sunburn, and maybe watch Rubidoux burn. You may even wear red, white, and blue. But it's certainly not as big as, say, Christmas or Easter or Thanksgiving. At least not in my family. There's nothing wrong with that! Everyone who knows me well knows how much I don't like fireworks. I don't like the heat or the sun, so staying inside is just fine with me! But we forget, don't we. We forget the reasoning behind the 4th. On facebook, some friends put quotes about the 4th and freedom up. I was blown away:

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." ~Erma Bombeck

"Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood." ~ John Adams 1765 Thank you to all our troops who sacrifice all of the above to ensure freedom. Happy 4th of July! Let freedom ring!

The 4th of July is the biggest holiday here in Juneau. Maybe it's because it's the only holiday that has a CHANCE of decent weather - no snow or rain...Well, the no snow is a guarentee...People go all out. Cars are decorated, families match in their red, white, and blue outfits that they can only wear this time of year, and barbecues are going everywhere!!!

The festivities started July 3. In Juneau around this time of year, it doesn't get completely dark. So, to set off fireworks, they wait until midnight on the 3rd (I guess that's technically the 4th...). So we went to Amy's aunt and uncle's house for hotdogs and to hang out until it was time for the fireworks. We had a great time. Then the fireworks. They shoot off the fireworks off a barge in the middle of the channel here in Juneau. There's mountains all around, so the boom echos through the mountains. The fireworks weren't anything to write home about, but the way cool part of it was the echo. I wish you were here to experience that with me!

Then, we had the 4th of July parade. It was similar to the one last year, with the floats and the bands. They had one alum high school band that was so fun. They were all playing, trying to keep in step, and taped a piece of yellow duct tape to their skirt/shorts/pants so they were all "matching". And, there were bagpipers! That was my favorite! It was great. Again, people in the parade stopped along the route to say hi to people along the sidelines. Welcome to small town! Everyone comes to this parade. There's serious street closure downtown and families come out early in the morning for a prime spot. It's very fun. As we walked back to the car, we walked through the old graveyard downtown. It was very interesting, and VERY old. We found the graves of Joseph Juneau and Richard Harris - two of the founders of Juneau! I put the pictures in the blog above this one, so hopefully this isn't too confusing...

Amy and I then went to her house and made shish-kabobs. We make mean shish-kabobs, let me tell you! We both got sunburned (yes, we get sunburned in Alaska too...) and were so tired. We watched a movie and then went to bed. Getting up for church the next day was tough, but even that was good.

I'm so glad for freedom. We are so blessed, and we don't even think about it! I truly hope your 4th was safe, enjoyable, and memorable. You are loved and missed!

Blessings!

Real Life Revised...

I've done three blogs in about two weeks...needless to say, there's been a lot of life changes happening. It's been crazy here, but I think it's good. Only time will tell. I just have to trust (and we all know how much I love to trust...)

The house thing is the same! This is a good thing. I have three of the four roommates staying fairly consistently at the house. It still seems really strange to me to think that someone is paying for rent, and then doesn't stay at the place they are paying for. Does this make sense to anyone else or am I on my own in this?

The weather has gone back to "Juneau weather". That means it thinks it's sunny, but there's enough cloud cover to not quite need the sunglasses, and then it rains. Actually it sprinkles, but if you're from SoCal, it rains! But it's not consistent. I rains for about five minutes, quits for ten, rains again for ten, quits for an hour, you get the point. I must say: when Juneau doesn't get rain in a while, the people here get pretty grumpy! They need the rain! I find that I miss it too. I love hanging out in the rain!

I was supposed to start my supervisor position today. Instead, I went to group therapy with my girls and let them know that I was resigning from JYS. They were not happy with me, and cried a little. I tried to explain that I truly do care for them and that I am not quitting because of anything any of them had done, but that it was something that I needed to do for myself. I also told them that I would be checking up on them, and wanted to come by weekly to play games with them and read a book or something. We'll see if I'm a friend or foe tomorrow...

So, I quit my job because I got a new job! I'll still be in Juneau, but working for JAMHI (Juneau Alliance for Mental Health Inc). It is working with adults with psych problems - depression, schizophrenia, psychosis, dual personalities, etc. I'll be a case manager over there, working on treatment plans, getting them to and from appointments, teaching them how to function, etc. Should be interesting and a challenge! If you have more questions, please call me and ask! There's too much to write in a blog...

More changes! This week, I've really been praying and asking God to give me wisdom, endurance, and understanding for all these crazy things in my life. Then, on the radio, a song came up (yes, another song!) Third Day's, "Take It All". Recently I've been struggling with the reality that people are expecting too much of me. I can't be everything to everyone, and it's feeling like that is what is happening. I am so tired of trying so hard. I am tired of people assuming that since I am a "strong" person, I can handle a great deal of things at once. I can, but sometimes (in the midst of life changes...) it's too much. And then I think and wonder how much of this I bring on myself. How much of it is my own expectations of myself? Like I said, it's been a struggle. All that to say, this has been my theme song for the past few days...



Love you and miss you all!
Blessings!

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace (How sweet the sound)
That sav'd a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev'd;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ'd!

Thro' many dangers, toils and snare,
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall profess, within the vail,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call'd me here below,
Will be for ever mine.

I think I've known this song my entire life. I can't remember a time I haven't known this song. When I was young, I remember really didn't like this song: it was too old, the melody was the same, it was LONG, and I didn't really understand the words. I used to cringe when the music people at church started to play this song. When I had to learn it on the piano for piano lessons, I think I practiced this song the least. I really hated this song!

I watched the movie this morning for the second time. What an incredible testimony! Both for William Wilberforce and for John Newton. They changed lives and changed history! Their honesty and determination changed lives and made them better. I want to be like them. I want the endurance and the honesty and the will to change lives like they did.

I could sit here and pick apart the verses of this song. They are so true; so solid; so deep; so beautiful. I look back and realize that my hating this song really did nothing for me. All the times that I missed out on singing with those that have gone before me: "Amazing grace! How sweet the sound! That saved a wretch like me!" But as I sing them now, I stand in amazement of God's grace. His love, His grace, is what has saved me. I am not worthy, but I am so thankful. As John Newton said in the movie, "I am a great sinner, and God is a great Savior." Save me.

If you haven't seen the movie, I highly encourage you to! Especially to the end. At the very end of the movie, there is a beautiful version of the song. I can't find it on youtube, so you'll have to watch the movie yourself. It's pretty incredible!

I'll update you more on life in a later post. For now, rest in His grace. It's pretty amazing...

Blessings!

Real Life

Vacation has officially ended.  Real life has started once again.  So sad...

Linda left on Monday.  It was very sad to see her go!  I didn't like it one bit!  We had tons of fun, and she helped me move (yet again!)  Next time, I'm going to help her move up here!  Wouldn't that be so great!  

Like I said, Linda moved me all in.  I have a new house, new roommates, and a whole new adventure waiting for me.  This house has a full front and backyard - so good!  I mowed and worked on the front lawn yesterday.  Four nasty, itchy bug bites and a sunburn later, I decided that morning is the best time to work on the yard.  It's actually been really warm here the past few days!  I've been really surprised!  The people here in Juneau are starting to get cranky because there hasn't been rain in almost a week!  Everyone has tans - it's pretty funny!

Work is ok.  I recently got promoted to supervisor, which is a new adventure too!  I start in two weeks.  I'm nervous, because there is still so much that I don't know.  But, it will be experience and a new adventure.

I've decided that I can't ease into things.  I can't make just one change at a time in my life - it's all or nothing!  I did it last year: graduated, new house, new job, new roommate, new state all in one month.  This year: new house, three new roommates, new position, new friends all in one month!  Won't it be interesting to see what happens next year?!  

I miss you all!  Hope all is well with you! 

Blessings,

Laurie

The Hike of Insanity

Well I’ve been here in Alaska for a week now and I’ve enjoyed every minute.  It has been so much fun spending time with Laurie and seeing the part of the country she has been living in for the last year.  It is absolutely beautiful here and I’m struck anew by the awesome majesty and splendor of the Creator each time I venture outside.  Mere pictures cannot compare to the glory of trees, the magnificence of the snow covered mountains, or the beauty of Mendenhall Lake, smooth as glass in the early morning.  I knew Juneau was beautiful, but I wasn’t prepared to have my breath taken away looking at the horizon from the top of a mountain.  In short:  I love it here! 

Here are a few things I’ve noticed about Juneau and a small (at least smaller than Riverside) town:

1.  Traffic consists of seven cars on the road at one time

2.  People actually make eye contact with you and say hello here

3.  The road goes through parking lots

4.  You can’t see the air you’re breathing

5.  Where Riverside’s freeways are decorated with graffiti or, on occasion, wall art, Juneau roads are adorned with waterfalls and lined with trees

6.  Folks here’s don’t know what a flyover is and are mystified by the thought of an octopus of freeway overpasses

7.  Folks don’t buy much meat here… they hunt for it (and have the antlers or heads to prove it)

8.  Drinking hot chocolate in the middle of May because it’s cold outside is fantastic

9.  Juneau summers are like Riverside winters – hallelujah it’s not hot here!

10.  And some total strangers feel like friends the minute you meet them

I’ve defiantly done things here that I never thought I’d do.  I ate moose. I kissed a glacier, but more on that later, and I’ve seen it light outside at 10:30 at night.  That was bizarre.  I’ve only seen it dark here once and that was only because we stayed up to watch a movie.  I went outside at 12:30 in the morning just to see what the dark in Juneau looked like.  Let me tell you – it’s dark.  I couldn’t see the backyard.  There were a few lights from other houses, but other than that it was pitch black.  Alas there was a cloud cover so we couldn’t see the stars but it was pretty neat nonetheless.  I never imagined I’d have to lock up my garbage.  Yup, here they have latches on the trash barrels and then they lock the barrels in a tinny compartment to keep the bears form getting into it.  Crazy I know.

Now, about this glacier business.  Laurie and I are pretty level headed and have a fairly good hold on common sense, but last Friday we did something rather stupid but incredibly fun.  Mama, stop reading here.  I went to work with Laurie on Friday and a co-worker of hers suggested that we hike out to the glacier.  Great!  Sounds like fun.  She told us about a trail that is harder, but shorter with “only a little rocky area you have to climb up.”  No problem right, little rocky area, no sweat.  So the two of us got back to her apartment and packed up the backpack.  Water, check.  Juice for lows, check.  Lifesavers, check.  Chocolate, CHECK.  Cameras, check.  Food, naw, we won’t be that long (let the stupidity begin). 

We made it to the trail, checked the bulletin board just to make sure there were no recent bear sightings, said a quick pray that the Good Lord would keep any hungry bears away from us and set off.  The trail was beautiful.  It was green, cool and crisp.  Rather than hearing the sounds of the freeways in the distance our ears were tickled with the sounds of the birds and the river.  We meet a group of kids returning from their fieldtrip to the glacier jumping down the trail on their way back to the bus.  With grins as big as open sky they reported with pride that they had kissed the glacier.  Apparently that’s the thing to do here in Juneau. 

After about half an hour of walking we found the trail that Laurie’s co-worker had told us about.  As we went along, the trail got increasingly difficult.  Clearly this trail wasn’t well traveled because the overgrowth made it impossible to walk upright in parts.  But did that stop us, no sir.  Undeterred we continued on.  Crossing rivers proved to be a mite bit challenging.  My sister just tromped through the river in her ExtraTuf boots but me other the other hand did not have the luxury of rubber boots, only a pair of running shoes.  Cautiously, I hoped from one stone to the next.  Blisters as a result of hiking in wet shoes did not sound appealing to me.  At one point the trail became a nearly straight down rocky drop.  This must be the part Laurie’s co-worker was taking about (insert sarcastic laugh here).  Slowly we worked our way down and continued on our way. 

Eventually we ran out of trail and still hadn’t found the glacier (Hmmm… no trail, red flag right?  Well if it was the two Hubbard sisters ignored it completely).   Instead we found the side of a cliff.   Correction, that must be the rocky part Laurie’s friend was talking about, we decided. Half way up we decided to take a break and called Mama and Daddy to tell them we were on the side of a mountain, brilliant I know.  Gathering our strength once again we made our way up the cliff convinced that the glacier would be on the other side.  It wasn’t.  Instead there was another cliff.  Too determined to go back, we set off again walking farther and farther away from the trail.  Did I mention we didn’t have the brains to mark our trail?  But someone else had, but we didn’t figure that out until we were on our way back.  Whoever they were, we love them!

To make a long story short… well shorter, we made it to he top of the second cliff only to be greeted with another one. “Only a little rocky area you have to climb up.”  Ha!  I must say, the view from the top of the mountain was spectacular.  I won’t even try to describe it because words cannot do it justice.  The picture at the beginning of this blog will have to suffice.  All I can say is how mighty and glorious is our God!  We finally made it to the glacier where is was about 20 degrees cooler with the wind bouncing off the glacier putting the temperature around 40 something.  We were both so hot from climbing that we welcomed the cool.  We both kissed the glacier, and crouched in the ice caves.  As I was taking Laurie’s picture the glacier began to move slightly.  I’ve never seen my sister move so fast! 

We decided to walk along the edge of the river on the way back.  It wasn’t nearly as difficult as the trip to the glacier for which we were extremely grateful.  Unfortunately for me, one of the last streams we crossed, I slipped of my steppingstone and landed in the water.  So much for keeping my shoes dry.  After three hours and fifteen minutes, a few close calls with cliffs and long drops, two tired, sweaty, hungry, wet, and laughing sisters beamed as the car came into sight.  It felt so good to sit down!  We have affectionately named our hike the Hike of Insanity.  Probably not one of our brightest ideas but it was a lot of fun.  Okay Mama, you can read again. 

Well that’s all from Alaska for now.  I have so many more stories, but those must wait until I get back to Riverside.  May the Good Lord bless and keep you all!

"I'm Coming Home...

...To the place where I belong!"  Only three more days till I leave!  I can't wait!

It's been a pretty stressful few weeks.  I'm not enjoying my job at all.  There's a lot going on there - kids and staff.  While I know in my head that I am extremely blessed to have such a great job that gives me so much vacation, benefits, retirement, good pay, etc, I can't help but be unhappy. Everyone knows that when they start dreaming and/or having nightmares about work, it's time to take a break...which leads me to: "I'm coming home to the place where I belong..."

My roommate and I are parting ways.  We're good, just at two different places.  She found an apartment and will be moving out by June 1.  Which means, I need to find a place by then as well.  Not going to be fun...It's got me stressed quite a bit.  I am looking...there are some options, but most want renters right away.  That's no good.  And..."I'm coming home..." so it's going to be tough looking for places while I'm in CA...

Some good things:

-Hikes with Amy (see pictures)

-The three straight days of sun we've gotten!  Yes folks - it's been in the upper 40's lower 50's!  Bust out those flip flops!

-A car that STILL RUNS!

-A ticket home!

-3 1/2 weeks away from work

-A chance to see my family and friends back home

-"I'm coming home to the place where I belong!"

Here's the song...it's called "Home".

See you all soon!

Blessings!