Resurrection Celebration

Did everyone have a happy Easter? Was it a joyous time that your family spent together? Easter has been somewhat of a puzzle in my family over the last few years. When I was young, we always did the whole: discover Easter basket - go to church - eat family dinner - easter egg hunt - eat too much candy thing. And I loved it! It was fun hunting for eggs that were stuffed with candy (and sometimes money from Grandpa), but I didn't really understand what Easter was about. Then a few years ago, Mom and Dad were moved in such a way that they decided that most of those things that Easter was normally comprised of, didn't reflect the true meaning of Easter. Easter is to celebrate our Savior rising from the dead after being crucified on the cross, and we weren't involving that into any of our holiday activities. So the first year my parents really tried hard to come up with activities to focus on the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ and it went fairly well. The youngest children didn't see it as being as exciting, but they did enjoy it. After that first year we have done a variety of things on Easter, but most of them consist of eating a delicious meal with relatives or church family.
So whats the right thing to do on Easter? I think God would want us to use this day for His Glory, just like any other day. The only difference is that sometimes people are more open to the gospel on this day than any other day. Yesterday, at work, I had a man comment to me that "Everyone goes to church on Easter, right?". I have come to realize this more and more as the years go by. I personally don't understand it, but I think that it could be used for the Lord's work if we look at it from the spiritual aspect.

Incredibly Funny

I have officially seen The Incredibles as of last night, and I have to say that it was very good. The computer graphics are always a delight to watch, and it was interesting that in certain parts the characters actually looked somewhat real. I think it was refreshing to see a movie that had a united family working together to do good. Yes, they had their disagreements, but what family doesn't? The important thing is that they did love each other and look out for each other, even at times when their lives might be in danger. I cannot say that this movie is my favorite movie, (Pirates of the Caribbean still holds strong!) but it is definetly in the top 5!

[btw- bravo to Dad who bought the DVD before we had seen it - I really enjoyed the movie and will again!]

Is it over yet?

I'm sure that any college student can relate to that feeling. I get this feeling at the end of every quarter. Its that time again. The point where you are sick of going to class, there is no more excitement - its just down to finding out if your grades are good enough to get the good student discount on auto insurance and for you to only pay half of tuition. It was obvious that everyone felt that way tonite in Soils class. One person would mumble something about "speeding things up" and the next student would optimistically state that our teacher "really wants to get on the 8 o'clock ferry instead of the 10 o'clock". Towards the middle of class it was obvious that our teacher had no such goal. Luckily we weren't required to think too hard about anything tonight. However, we were required to turn in our research papers. I think mine was pretty good. Its probably not my best paper, but I should get a good grade on it. And besides that, I actually did learn a lot from it and was intrigued by the topic (which always makes it more fun). Now I only have to get through pruning class tomorrow, which should be interesting because of teacher/homework/grading issues. Then I have soils class on wednesday, which will only consist of a short quiz, and I'm done for two whole weeks! that is going to be so enjoyable!

my fave flower pic 

BREAKING NEWS! DROUGHT 2005!

Its official - Governor Gregoire (who I really don't think is Governor) has declared that Washington is in the midst of a drought. Once again the media went all out on the subject and scared a lot of people - ok, maybe not a lot of people. I still just laugh when people start talking about Washington having a drought, its seems like such an oxymoron! Yes, we didn't get half the amount of rainfall that we normally do, but its not a disaster like when Texas has a drought, is it? Correct me if I'm wrong. In a way this drought might be a good thing... because it may bring to light how much water we waste and maybe some conservation will come from it. Anyway- its not stopping people from buying plants which is good for me! ;)

It Feels Like Spring!

What a day today has been! It was approx. 65 degrees today! Work was so enjoyable because of the nice weather. We had a lot of business at the nursery because of it also. People are so excited for spring that they are buying lots of plants(which is good for us). We got a lot of new plants delivered today also which was so exciting! There were red & orange poppies, lavendar, rosemary, pink & white bleeding hearts, and pansies galore! It makes me want to buy them all! But alas, I don't have the money or space to plant them. Plus, then no one else would be able to enjoy them. :)

original eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 

The Mountain Speaks

So the big news today is that Mt. St. Helens erupted, and well, is still erupting at this moment. Any time the mountain decides to prove that it is still a living volcano, is a huge deal for our state. The media goes wild and rushes to the UW observation center and interrogates any seismologist they can get their hands on. Then they start getting locals (who know very little about volcanoes) on the phone to relate their view of the situation and how they feel about it. Finally, they show continuous video from the chopper, up above the mountain, as it goes around in circles for about an hour. One beneficial thing, for us homebodies, from all the media hype is that we get to see inside a live volcano while it is spewing smoke & ash and oozing lava out of its dome. I have to admit- that part is pretty cool!

In the Beginning

Hello family, friends, & total strangers-
I have to say that this blog was inspired by my friends at the Common Room, so please go check it out. Although my Garden of Thought probably won't be as highly intelligent or witty as the Common Room I hope that you will enjoy it. A blog seemed like an excellent way to update people on what is going on in my life and to share my not-so-important opinions on various subjects.

I think I will have to start In the Beginning. (which would be today) I have spent a good part of my morning working on a research paper due next week in one of my classes at school. I chose to do the paper on the theory of Lake Missoula. This has been an interesting search for information, and has brought to light the age old question of whether the Genesis Flood actually happened. It is fascinating how the physical evidence can point in one direction and atheist scientists refuse to admit defeat. Recently I read another account of this happening in World magazine. The article was referring to a report which was published in the Smithsonian Institute magazine that found more evidence to support the theory of Intelligent Design. Before the editor could publish the report in the Smithsonian magazine, it had to be approved by 3 anonymous peers. The scientific report was approved and the editor published it. Now many members of that Smithsonian circle are in an uproar over an article of this kind to be publish in their magazine. Imagine that! They are claiming that it is religously based and not scientifically based and are disfellowshipping the editor of the magazine (who happens to be a scientist himself). The editor has been fired and his labratory priviledges have been cut off, so now he can't do any research himself. Remember that the editor is not the man who wrote the report on Intelligent Design, nor is he one of the peers that approved the article for publishing! It is simply amazing that even when scientific evidence has been brought forth, many scientists jump into the political ring and cry "religion!". the fact is, that even with all the amount of scientific evidence, there is always going to be someone who is determined not to believe, because then they would have to admit that there is Someone else out there bigger than themself and then it would truly be religion.

plantlover & sk8rboy