She's 14 and a typical freshman in high school.  Yet there is so much more to her.  Serious, fun loving, social, adventurous. Concerned about her grades and liking that others think she's smart. She's pretty but doesn't think so. She likes having long hair but isn't obsessed with it to the point of taking hours in the morning to do something with it. Her wardrobe is jeans and a hoodie with converse or sweats and a hoodie.  She has a great group of friends that are like minded. Her friends would described her as interesting, chaotic, fun-loving

Shaking with excitement I pulled into a parking spot. My world was exploding with color from the brightest yellows to the deepest reds.  The grey skies made those colors more vibrant than I could ever imagine. I pulled out my camera.  The one I never thought I would ever own and marveled at how far I've come.  This was my test drive of the camera.  I had an afternoon all to myself with the camera and in our neighboring country to boot.  There was so much to see.  It was crazy that the benches were abandoned, with the scenery surrounding it.  I could envision sitting there with a cup of coffee and a croissant, just breathing in the season. I wander and look and think and take photos. My thoughts are led by what I see. The moss on the cement retainer wall that suggested a timelessness. The tree adorned in gold, gracefully shedding each left to create a blanket around it's roots. The palest yellows that blend into the fieriest reds on the leaves that decorate the ground. The geese with the backdrop of the Vancouver skyline: a merging of the natural with the man-made.  Each sight, each bend in the road, each curve of the path is another reminder of the beauty surrounding me, if I just tak the time to look and see with more than just my eyes.

Sometimes it just feels good to curl up on the couch and go to sleep.

 It was almost a year to the day from getting his permit to getting his license.  The first child to get his license was hard. The second much easier to handle. Veteran's day, school was cancelled but he was able to schedule his driving test during the morning. I waited in a classroom during the drive test.  I couldn't really let him drive himself to the drive test, or could I?  When we pulled up to the school we waited for about 5 minutes before a nice newer black mustang pulled into the parking lot.  A boy and the teacher got out.  They went inside and the boy came back outside with a piece of paper, got into the car and drove away (ALONE!!!).  I was shocked.  Nothing was said.  Anyhow Job and the teacher jumped into the car and they headed out.  I waited for maybe 20 minutes and he was done.  We left with our own piece of paper with instructions on how to get his license.  Did you know that if you have a learner's permit you can apply online and have it sent in the mail?  No waiting in line and it could be completed on holidays or after hours!  Yahoooo!  As soon as we got home, we were online completing the form. He just needed to keep a copy of the receipt until his license comes in the mail.  The next phone call was to the insurance agency to add another driver.  I wasn't even off the phone with them when he headed out.  I had no idea where he went.  An hour later he was back.  He had headed over to a friend's house who live on the next block over and then to the church yard which is less than a block away - just turn the corner.  He found his friends playing football there.  The next stop on his list were his friends across town that have been his best friends forever.  He went over there to play an intense game of MarioKart and hang out. I never thought he would disappear like that. Hilarious really.

I hardly know what to write about this.  It was chaotic, stressful, and rushed. Never has one of my kids gone to the Homecoming dance.  This year Job, Lona and our exchange student Robin went.  It was drama almost from the second week of school.  First, Lona was going to go with her group.  Then her friend was asked and so the rest of the group didn't want to go. Then Lona was asked.  Robin wanted to go and some of Lona's homeschool friends wanted to know what the hype was about.  I thought it would be great for them to go with Job and Robin. So that was settled but I stressed over it.  Then there was the whole issue of shopping for dresses.  Lona found one online, but is was coming from Hong Kong.  Would it be there in time, possibly bust as the day of homecoming drew closer, it didn't appear that the dress would arrive on time.  Lona and I had a small window of time and we quickly ducked into a second hand shop and found a dress.  I thought she liked it, but then I saw some texts and discovered that she hated it. It broke my heart.  I didn't want to pressure her into a dress, I wanted her to like it instead of hating it. Then a few days before homecoming it was announced that the events were going to be postponed due to a possible severe storm.  So we had more time, however the girls that Robin and Job were going to go with couldn't make it the night homecoming was moved to.  No problem for Job, he was friends with another one of Lona's friends and so he asked her.  I guess they were walking together between classes and Job asked her if her parents would allow her to go to homecoming.  She said, "yes." So he asked if she wanted to go with him.  Very casual, no pressure,(of course he already knew the answer to the second question.) She said yes again.  What happened next surprised me very much.  Job wanted to get a tie to match her dress.  Her dress was black and so he wanted a black tie.  Then he needed shoes, and when I looked at his pants, I realized he needed new pants.  But to match his tie with her dress.  It was sweet.  Lona and Brooke met at our house to get ready at 2pm, it takes a while to do hair and make up and dressed and all that jazz, The rest of the group would be there around 4pm.  Job and Robin were playing a soccer game that I needed to pick them up from around 3:30 so they could get ready. Then the other kids started trickling in.  There was terrible traffic in town since they closed Main Street, (I forget why) and were detouring the traffic along one side road which made kids late.  Robin whose friend's date got him a date learned that they wouldn't be there until 4:30 which made us take three cars.  We arrived around 4:30 with John bringing Robin's group later.  The ferry terminal was packed with people taking inside photos and the guy wanted to close up and go home but he was gracious and left it open for the throng of kids and parents with cameras.  I wasn't thrilled with where we went but at least we were able to get some photos but not the way I wanted to. The boy had made reservations at a Japanese Restaurant and that time was fast approaching.  Robin's group finally showed up and I quick got pictures of them as the rest of the group made their way to the restaurant. John handed Job a credit card so he could pay even though we were there too, just in a different section.  It's kind of more grown up to pull out a credit card and pay for you and your date, (and your sister).  Dinner over and we drove the group to the high school to drop them off.  It was crazy to see the heels all the girls were wearing. I guess they check them in along with their purses and coats.  I picked them up around 11:00 and it was midnight before everyone was home.  Finally over and I don't want to go through another again.

John and I curled up on the couch, under a blanket and turned on Netflix.  It was a rare night with only one child at home. We click through the suggested movies and TV shows, settling on "The Imitation Game".  We try to get the middle one to watch with us but that Xbox has a better draw. I watch transfixed by the story and the characters, knowing that this is a true story - the people who broke the enigma machine.
A week or so later, after church we hop into the car to drive to H mart,  a Korean food mart and grocery store near the Lynnwood mall. However, a trip to a grocery store that far away has to be combined with another outing.  Enter the Flying Heritage Collection, a museum of vintage airplanes that have been restored to working order.  This museum is less than 5 miles from Hmart.  Of course we must stop and see it.  We walk through the first hanger, looking at these amazing airplanes.  They are from all countries during WWII. There are background infromation about these planes such as who flew them, the number of missions, where it was found. We could spent hours and hours in there but there is another hanger to explore and this is where I find it.  The Enigma Machine. Just like in the movie. The machine that the British spent years and years to crack. I am ecstatic to see this and just days/week after watching that movie.  I think right there is worth the drive to this museum!

Our Exchange Student, Robin, from Korea

The machine gun barrels on the plane below.

Job says he found his car.