Calvary Women's Retreat

What an amazing weekend...women's retreat at the Mandalay Beach! I have been waiting and planning the retreat since October and now it is already over! It was a weekend of encouragement, wisdom and fun. I roomed with Kristin Wettmore, Debra Richards and two girls I just met Jessie and Melissa. Right from the start my roommates and I had fun. Friday night we stayed up late talking and laughing. Lucky for Debra…. I shared a bed with her and I kept her up late telling stories and right when she was about to fall asleep I had another one for her...your welcome Debra. There were many highlights of the weekend including me caravaning down with some of my homebuilderes friends. They went 55mph the whole way down and I went 80mph. We stopped in Santa Barbara for an authentic mexican lunch at La Costa Rica, which was really fun and I learned from Robin, April and Gwen that when you pass the age 40 apparently you carry beano in your purse with you! I met a lot of new woman at retreat and was greatly blessed to know how God is working in their lives and challenging them. Jean Mcclure was our guest speaker and she spoke of different woman in the bible and how God has made them beautiful in His timing, which was our verse for the weekend. Eccl.3:11 When we first started meeting for retreat planning, Sherry shared this verse with me I was trying to think of how we could display that visually....God simply laid the pearl upon my heart. It started with the centerpieces and the scattered pearls of all different shapes and sizes and how I wanted that to represent the woman there and how we are all fearfully and beautifully made no matter what size we are. As retreat planning went on God continually had me praying for theses woman and I wanted so badly for the woman to feel welcomed, loved and valued when they walked in. Over the past few months God continually showed me that through my trials I must continue to give Him my struggles so that He can do something beautiful in me. I was so busy with school, work, etc I didn’t see what God was doing in my own life. The last day of retreat all the woman were given a vile with sand and a single pearl in it to remind them that throughout their trials God is there refining them and making them beautiful in His time. As I looked around the room the last day I was reminded of God’s goodness and faithfulness to these woman. Some I know very well and the trials they face and others I don’t but I know God is faithful to all who call on His name.

First Official Shell Shack Post

The new Shell Shack is officially warmed up! Every morning when I see our ocean views I can't believe where I live, and again at each glorious sunset.

The last half of December, since my arrival back in the States, to now, has been a whirlwind of activity, as usual. I was met at the airport by my amazing friends, and we spent a incredible weekend in Orange catching up, chilling at the Romano pad, and a fabulous day at Disneyland, where we complained if we had to wait in line for longer than 2o minutes.

Then it was Christmas with the family, where I got a most unexpected but very fun present: my very own .22 rifle!

Other highlights included a kicked back New Years,
ice skating with friends,and celebrating Devon's 24th birthday with a trip to San Jose to visit the unofficial 4th Shell Shacker, K-Baby,
where we engaged in a ferocious game of blondes versus brunettes bocci ball.
Now that the holiday vacations are over, life is slowing down, and the Shell Shack is enjoying the time to reflect on how blessed we are by our families, friends, and to be at this stage in our lives. So, while there is no actual point to this blog, check back often for updates on our thoughts, theme parties, or whatever else we feel like posting about.