Too beautiful not to post.

If you are a resident in SoCal, you have no excuse NOT to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather we have been gifted with today. Seriously. My friend Nate likes to post encouraging thoughts on his Facebook status update, and today he said,

"Attention southern California...stop this morning and look outside at the mountains, blue sky...smell the crisp clean air, and thank our Creator for his power and might and beauty. He is GOOD!"

Isn't that great? So after a yummy breakfast of hard boiled eggs and a cinnamon roll, I strapped on my running shoes and ipod and headed out to see what all the buzz was about. I was not disappointed!

Picture perfectly blue sky without a cloud in sight. You can see the mountains clear as if they were in your backyard. The sun is shining down on you, and you are breathing in an air that tastes fresh - like after a good rainstorm. Put on your shades, cue up your "fall walks" playlist, and head out there, people! In fact, DON'T walk fast to get a "workout," but instead take it all in...enjoy this beautiful fall day.

On my walk today, I had to dart in and through high school students on the sidewalk who had just been released to enjoy their weekends after what I am guessing was a long hard week of stuyding. I walked past my old place of employment, and thanked God for my short time there, and the blessings I experienced as a teacher and mentor in those years. My ipod list for the walk today included a few from Hillsong, Jeremy Camp, Jo-Dee Mesina, and John Mayer. Man, it just does NOT get any better than a little J Mayer singing "Perfectly Lonely" in your ear as you jog along the bright streets of SoCal. Life. Is. Good.

Easy for me to say, right? I don't have all the demands of a 9-5 job to weigh me down, you say. Well, in that respect, you are right. I am not rushing off to work an eight hour shift every day as of late...and I bet you are wondering what in the world I am doing these days (besides going out to lunch with former students and making new ipod playlists) So glad you asked...

I took the Michigan Basic Skills Test in college, but apparently the state of California doesn't trust midwesterners...so last Saturday I took the California Educators Basic Skills test. Once I get my scores, I will be allowed to substitute teach in public schools here in SoCal. Well, that, and an application, an official college transcript, a copy of my teaching license, AND a small chunk of change. Hopefully in a few weeks I will no longer have quite so much time for blogging and out-to-lunching and instead I will be teaching!

In the meantime, I will enjoy the perks of this slower pace of life. I just got a few books from Amazon, after recommendation from my big brother Joel. Recently in the mail I have received, "Eat This Book", Practice Resurrection," and "The Jesus Way," all by Eugene Peterson. Soon I will get the book "Bittersweet" by Shauna Niequist. I figured I should use this extra time to learn more about God and His ways, seeing as how I can always use help in my faith journey!