enjoying the humor in differences

Here's what i'm laughing about tonight:

Last night was the first night that I've slept without my electric blanket, and tonght, as I'm debating over whether or not I should KEEP my warm flannel sheets for a while LONGER or switch to normal sheets...since i'm sure it WAS over 90 degreees today....Dave and Trina, the couple I live with, are in THEIR room desperately trying to figure out how to get their new AIR CONDITIONER to work (since their old one broke...which, by the way, they've already been using for maybe a MONTH now!!!) and dave informed me the other night that they even often sleep with the window OPEN in the middle of WINTER!!!

SOOooo.....anyway, I'm enjoying the humor and thought I'd share it!

.........I think I'll keep my flannel sheets for a bit longer....and NO, there's no way I'll be opening my window OR needing even a FAN until it's at LEAST in the 80s when I go bed!!! :)

BONUS THOUGHT: I'm counting down the days til I get to go to Cali. to see Rachel and her wonderful, beautiful baby, Ethan....and her family too, of course!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Lisa's Wedding!!

So many fun gatherings with friends lately!!! I'm loving it! Last weekend a great friend and co-worker, Lisa, got married!

Some friends from work, including my boss next to me

Meet Eric & Kisha

I'm incredibly thankful for Eric & Kisha. They've become awesome friends that i love sharing life with. I met them at church but have gotten to know them mostly through the girls house that i've been helping out with (see Transitional Youth link). They have been the "house parents" of the home for the past year there, living and loving several young women who have been transitioning from street life or difficult living situations, to a more healthy life of jobs, school and hopefully a love and relationship with God.

Kisha enjoys riding horses and is an amazing cook (i eat all of her left-overs). eric shares my dad's love for biking (motorcycle) and he also fully enjoys a good cigar....and he cooks too. Of course there is so much more to them than just these things...

I hope you'll all get to meet them someday! I'm sad they are moving a bit further away (at least not overseas like most of my other good friends-just to Beaverton), but am looking forward to continuing to kick-it with 'em in our free time....next month- STOMP!! can't wait!! ....and summer is coming, which means CAMPING!!!! oh yeah!!! and cooking over the campfire.....I'm sure i'll be posting more in the future with these guys...so now you know who they are!

Happy Mothers Day...late

Cindy and I got to go hang out with mom for mothers day weekend!
SHE IS THE ULTIMATE MOM IN ALL THE WORLD!!!
She'll tell me when something's in my teath...but she DOESN'T clean my face with her spit....THANK YOU MOM!!

She's FUN!!!!
Mom is one of my closest friends...i am Increadibly thankful for her...she's one of my favorite people to talk to!
I LOVE YOU MOM!!!

Bonus "Biker Mom" picture....and no, i don't think that's beer...she doesn't like it either!

I don't live by bread alone......And you?

I've found myself both excited and sad about the Bible lately.

EXCITED because the more I am reading it, listening to it on CD, studying it, meditating on it, and doing all of these things while asking God's Spirit to teach me and make it alive to me, the more encouraged I am. I get to know God through it, which I enjoy the most! It helps me live life...it fills my mind with truth and helps me to recognize the many lies that satan constantly tells me and us through the "world". It gives me hope when I've felt down lately. It's just SO GOOD...truly food. It gives me weapons to fight against the enemy, who lately I've just felt attacked by....

I'm just SO THANKFUL that God chose to give us a book directly from HIM...full of TRUTH! I can't imagine how life would be without it. When I get bored with it or don't feel like reading it, I find that God often asks me, "do you REALLY believe that these are MY VERY WORDS?"...i think about it and then have to answer "YES"...and then how can i NOT read it! I'm holding the VERY WORDS OF GOD...FROM HIM...ABOUT HIM!! I'm finding myself craving them more than music, and for me that is strange.

The sad thing to me about the Bible is that so many people don't value it anymore. I am consistently shocked at how many people I talk to who don't read it-speaking of believers...and many really don't seem to CARE that they don't read it. And then I see the percentage of how much of "the world" they are listening to...though music, movies, billboards, people,etc. No wonder it's SO HARD these days for people to walk in the Abundant LIFE that Jesus Promised. No wonder so many of us find ourselves defeated, stressed, frustrated, angry, selfish, rude, prideful...(kind of sounds like a verse in the Bible...pretty sad that that verse reflects us much of the time). No wonder so many don't even realize that they are missing so much that God has for them...how could they know they are missing it if they don't even know what God promised for those who walk with Him? that's extremely sad to me.

I wonder if people don't read it because they really don't think it's from God Himself? Not that they would actually consciously THINK or say that but I really believe that our ACTIONS, or lack of actions, reflect more what we believe than what we say. When I PERSONALLY stop and ask myself what I TRULY believe, and remember that I DO believe it's God's actual Word for men, then I've GOT to pick it up and spend time in it. It doesn't make sense not to...and being busy just doesn't seem to matter when I face this reality...it's GOD'S WORD for heaven's sake!!!:) WHAT?!?! That's crazy!! I think we're just so used to having a thousand Bibles around the house that we've forgotten what it really is!

I quit reading it for quite some time because I felt it had become a legalistic ritual to check off my Christian "to do" list. Now I don't just see it as the RIGHT thing to do but the SMART and wise thing to do.

I know several people who just don't know what to read, or don't like to read it cuz they don't understand it. THIS is what's making me excited about just talking more about the Bible with people, and hopefully starting a group soon to just let people ask questions that I might be able to help answer...or if I don't know, then what a great way to teach people how to study it and where to go for answers! Or maybe we'll just do a read-thru together and spur each other on as we read! ANYTHING to get people in the LIVING and ACTIVE WORDS of GOD!! THAT is exciting to me!!

I'll stop there.This just keeps coming up with people so it was on my mind.I just want to do anything to help people gain the love for God's Word that He's been putting in my heart. He's such a GREAT GOD!! I just think that lives will change as we know TRUTH as much as we know what the world says about life....as we know truth to make satan leave when he lies to us or twists the truth- like Jesus knew it!

I hope that YOU will find HIM in His Words this week...and alive in your life as He IS!!!

Psalm 119
..."Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Thy law"....

a good memory from LT

i LOVE this! Dave, Trina and I are just sitting around tonight and Dave pulled up this great memory from Lithuania. While we lived there pretty much the only TV in english that we had was the Cartoon Network. This was one of the "commercials" that they constantly played!

It was during that year that I also fell in love with a great man...oh, how could i have forgotten to tell you about him....Samurai Jack!! If you've never seen his stealthy ninja moves and stunning physique....well, you just haven't fully lived yet! You need to look online for him, and if you can't find anything I MIGHT let you borrow the first season of his show. :)



Waaaahhh-CHAaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!

some thougths from my head lately...

I've been wondering lately if I'll ever feel like an adult...a "grown up"....not a kid anymore. I don't know if it's because I'll be leaving my 20s forever this year or just because everyone else around me seems more confident in their adult skin...even people ten years younger than me...maybe it's because I don't really have a profession and don't even really know what direction I'm going in life other than following God. I've struggled with having acne for years, which i think is the reason many people who meet me think I'm still 19 or 20...maybe I've started to believe them. Whatever the reason, i just don't feel like I'm a REAL LIVE ADULT YET...and I think I'd like to!

Maybe I have to get married and have kids. Most people seem to act more adultish once they are married.

Is there such a thing as "adult clothes?" I work with kids so I dress casually, which is what I like anyway, but maybe that keeps me feeling like a kid...or maybe the fact that half of my week is spent in the company of children keeps me feeling, and perhaps acting, quite young.

Adults can go to bars, smoke, drink....buy nice clothes and cars....but those things just aren't ME. I don't even LIKE Beer....(picture is of me pretending to enjoy a nice big drink in Lithuania)

On one of the many rainy nights during my freshman year in college, Rachel and I went "puddle jumping" til we were soaked. I remember saying that I never wanted to get too adultish or mature to be able to do something like that. But now...i kind of want to feel like my age...but I'm starting to wonder if doing those kinds of things is what keeps me from feeling grown up...and I still like the idea of jumping in huge rain puddles...kind of like the "riding the shopping cart" thing i mentioned in a previous post.

...hmm....well, i guess that's all for now. Just some ponderings from my pensive mind. Anyone have any thoughts on the subject?

"Dude, I finished it!"

I proclaimed this outloud in utter shock today when i pulled out the last of the floss! have you EVER finished a spool of floss? I don't think i ever have! I either don't floss enough, or i use parts of the many spools that the dentist has given me over the years, or i loose the spools and buy new ones. So I had to share this moment! It's something I never realized I hadn't done until it happened...and I just got a kick out of it!:)

I enjoy moments like that...things that seem common but that I've never done or have never happened to me...like when i drove over a bridge the other day that I didn't realize I'd never been on before until I was on it...and it's one i drive under or near all the time.

am i the only one who has these moments? does anyone else have anything like this???
Here's a random picture from 3 years ago of me and tiana...cuz i miss her..she's in Lithuania along with several other great friends who i'll put pics up of soon.

i've seen several of these lately

Foloof and Strawberry Shortcake!!

My kids at work are always doing and saying things that make me laugh!!! I finally remembered to write a couple things down that were said this morning. Sorry if they end up being the "you had to be there" kind of thing. Maybe I'm just easily amused!

As I helped a boy study for his spelling test and he wrote words like "foloof" instead of "flour", i looked over and asked a couple girls playing with the dolls:

"Why is that girl hanging upside down off the roof?"

She quickly answered with great joy and confidence, assuming her answer was quite logical: "That's because the dad is CRAZY about strawberry shortcake!"

A little later I overheard the dad doll, played by another girl, saying to the daughter, "I'll GIVE you some strawberry shortcake if YOU: stop throwing mom off the roof...DEAL?!" (again, said as if it was quite the ordinary, logical happening)

This was all taking place as one of my 4th grade boys walked around the room with a box on his head bumping into stairs and carts!

After inventing several new words instead of spelling the test words correctly, the boy I was helping exclaimed: "HALF MY BRAIN GOT ATEN BY DOGS!"

Yes, it was quite the entertaining morning!


Since i can't post pictures of the kids, here's one of PART of a boy helping to do an experiment. This is what happens when you put a few Mentos into a bottle of Coke!

Psalm 103...like the eagles

I'm DONE!! i think! :) i'm such a perfectionist that it makes it hard for me to finally just put the paint brushes down and let the painting be as it is...and as always, after staring at it for hours, i've found it hard to know if what i've done looks good/realistic or not. i had moments with this painting of freaking out and thinking that for sure these eagles looked more like Big Bird or Red Robin than the real eagles i was trying to paint. but thanks to dave, trina and kendra, who are either really good liars or who actually think what i do is good, i didn't end up throwing this out and now i'm glad i didn't!



















I painted this from a photograph that one of kendra's friend's husband took up in Alaska. It's his favorite picture out of several that he's taken, so his wife wanted to get it painted for a surprise one year anniversary gift. i hope he likes it.

Of course the way it shows up on the computer is a bit different than real life. The colors show up a bit different but at least there's the general idea.

I want to keep painting. Not every day or every week but more than once every 7 years. It was a huge blessing to get paid this time since it made it possible for me to buy some supplies that will last for future paintings!

Since i think i'll keep painting i decided that i should choose a signature to stick with. I'm using just "CR" for "Cheryl Renea"...cuz you just never know if i'll get married someday :)...this way i can just keep my signature the same. I also like the looks of an "R" instead of a "B" anyway! So now you know that I'm not claiming someone else's painting if you see "CR" instead of "CB"..and hey, it just makes me feel more artsy anyway...you gotta have SOMETHING unique, right!

I'll also be putting a verse with every painting. Psalm 103 is the chapter that i put onto this one. It's a great pslam full of truth...including an eagle analogy.



Psalm 103:1-5
Of David

"Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-

who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."

seeking sleep wisdom...

Does anyone know which is better....to get more sleep or to wake up at the best time in the sleep cycle? i always try to get at least 7 hours of sleep but it seems like whenever i wake up at 6 or 6.5 hours i'm in a better mood...but i'm SO set on getting enough sleep that i can't convince myself that less might be better. any scientific wisdom out there???

A Great Time with Mom & Dad in Bend

i didn't realize how much i just needed to rest....but God did and He blessed me more than i asked for during the four days at my parents' in Bend, Oregon!!! Just look!! and of course pictures can't fully capture everything...the sounds of birds, the warmth of the sun on your face, the intensity of color in a sunset....the vastness of the creativity of God is just far beyond replicating!! i'm truly rested and encouraged! Thank you Abba!

Chayla, waiting anxiously for a walk.
The sunset in the backyard
These are juniper berries, not to be confused with blue berries!

some pretty cool clouds

An attempt at a self portrait!



































taken in warm springs while driving home...pretty good picture for taking it while driving eh?!

Now I'm home and feeling pretty rested!!!

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:20

(sorry if pictures or captions don't show up right...i can't figure out this picture layout)