Our washing machine kicked the bucket, so we bought a new one this weekend. It is supposed to be delivered today between 10:30 am and 12:30 pm. It's now 11:30 and I'm sitting at home, when I should be at the office, and my bet is that the delivery guys will show up at 12:30 pm on the nose or, if I'm lucky, 12:29 pm. Oh well, at least the time frame wasn't 9am to 6pm!!!

I made a friend!!! Okay, so not quite yet, but there is exciting news on the friend front here in Roseville. Since moving I've had a hard time meeting people my age and developing relationships. It's been extremely hard because I left friends in Orange County who were more like family than friends -- these girls truly rock!!! So Dave and I have been going to a new church that has quite a few young couples. This morning at church we saw a couple we had met the other week. The girl invited me to a women's ministry open house that was going on tonight. I had been planning on going, but it was so nice to be invited and to know that I'd know someone there. So, after going to this open house I am very encouraged. I got two phone numbers, signed up for a very low commitment small group designed for gals to get to know one another, and was invited to join a group of couples without kids that gets together for dinner once a month. Whoa -- the floodgates have opened on the dry prairie of my life!!!

The cool thing about all this is that at the beginning of the summer I prayed a very specific prayer -- that God would provide one person by the end of summer who was either a friend or who I knew had the potential to be a good friend. Well, looks like that prayer has been answered. Our God is so good.... it never ceases to amaze me!

Why is it always the case that when you have money/gift certificates to spend you can't find anything you want to buy.... but, when you shouldn't be buying anything at all and are totally broke you see cute things everywhere you turn?!?

Whew, it's been a while since I posted on here. Life has been quite busy, and, to be honest, I haven't felt much like blogging lately. But, apparently that phase has passed. :) In my absence the Heckler family went camping -- Heather, Dave, Dave's dad, and, yes, Chloe. We went to Loon Lake, which is somewhat near Tahoe in the Sierra Nevadas. We left on a Thursday afternoon and came home on Sunday afternoon. What a great time!!! We hiked, swam, had an encounter with a yellow jacket nest (Chloe disturbed it, got bit, but Dave got the worst of it trying to save Chloe), and generally had a great time. It's amazing to me what getting away from work, TV, noise, and the city can do for one's soul. Although I came back pretty tired, I somehow felt refreshed. There's something about being smack dab in the middle of God's creation that makes one feel more at home -- like the superficial concerns we all are sucked into are taken away, and we are forced to acknowledge God in all His glory. Although I would not call myself a mystic, I think the monks of old had the right idea about rest, retreat, and simplicity. I sure could use more of that in my life!!!