Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains

Marah macrocarpa / Family: Cucurbitaceae (GOURD).

Common name: Wild cucumber

My photos:

Website photos:*

Salvia leucophylla / Family: Lamiaceae (MINT).

Common name: Purple Sage

My photos:

Website photos:*

Brassica nigra / Family: Brassicaceae (MUSTARD).

Common name: Black Mustard

My photos:

Website photos:*

Oxalis californica / Family: Oxalidaceae (OXALIS).

Common name: Oxalis, woodsorrel

My photos:

Website photos:*

Vinca major / Family: Apocynaceae (DOGBANE).

Common name: Periwinkle, bigleaf periwinkle, greater periwinkle.

My photos:

Website photos:*

Acacia longifolia / Family: Fabaceae (PEA, LEGUME).

Common name: Sydney Golden Wattle

My photos:

Website photos:*

Unidentified

A lily or grass:

Below is something related to dill, anise, carrot; seeds smell like anise.
Possibly: Foeniculum vulgare / Family: Apiaceae (CARROT). link

Small low growing woody plant:

Tree or large shrub:

Woody shrub:

*"Website photos" are taken from www.smmflowers.org

Hiking in Southern California - Part 1 (Oct - Dec, 2014)

This is a great area for hiking!
First, some friends and I tried to get to the Burbank "B." With no luck. But we had fun.

Mini Dr. Seuss Tree

DTLA off in the smog, there

The next day, I went on an excursion starting in Brand Park at the Tree Goddess statue. (Can't remember exactly what it's called ... something like "Our Lady of the Green Cross.") Great view of Burbank from there.

Video footage: 

New Year's Eve Hike

No map available, but essentially about the same route as the pervious one.

The trail I had just ascended is visible.

Map posted at the plateau.

Summer School Temporary Visual Schedule Tip

If you're like me, you are using someone else's classroom for summer school. I don't want to put anything that will leave sticky residue on the classroom walls or cabinets, but one of my students really needs a visual schedule! I like it to be on the wall so it's visible from anywhere in the room.

I think this will work really well. I may even be able to reuse the hook & loop squares if I just glue them on to something.

What have you done as a temporary measure for summer school?

Now reporting live from Burbank, CA...

I've been living in Burbank now for 8 weeks. I have a job which I have been in for 7 weeks.

The day before I left Jamaica, someone from the Burbank school district HR office emailed me and said that they had another job opening that I should interview for. The moment my plane touched down in Dallas I called the lady and she said, "I hope you're in Burbank because the interviews are tomorrow." I was still a 3-day car drive away from Burbank. Oh well, maybe the principal won't like any of the candidates... 

Nothing moved inside!! It's incredible! Pictured: childhood friend Megan, new friend Amanda

Mom and I packed up my stuff and drove out to California. Funny how easy that sentence was to write. We took turns driving the 10 foot U-Haul truck and my car. It took 3 days. On day 3, the Burbank HR lady called me and said, "The interviews have been postponed!" I said, "Awesome!" I interviewed 2 days later, and was offered the position 2 days after that. Hallelujah!! I was on cloud nine! After a whirlwind summer of packing up, living with other people, job hunting, interviewing, international travel, and cross-country travel, a miracle happened and I felt like I had solid ground under me. I believe that God granted me favor with the HR lady and the principal and teachers that interviewed me.

I'm teaching a class of seven special needs kids who are in grades kinder through 2nd. They are great kids and I really enjoy working with them. They are of course very diverse in their abilities, which is the challenge that I really enjoy tackling. The aides in my classroom are wonderful too. They love the kids and are eager to take suggestions and help me with things. 

I'm involved with a church called Soma, which is unique because of it's focus on what they call missional communities. These are the heart of the church. My missional community really feels like a family. They were praying for me before I arrived and prayed me through the whole process of getting a job and settling in to things. 

So there you have it. Goodbye from sunny Burbank.

Jamaica Trip 2014

We had a great trip to Jamaica! Thank you for praying! This is a mostly visual update on the trip.

A major component of our trip was connecting our MK teens with the Jamaican teens. These girls attended several service opportunities with us and were great fun to be around. Some had not served people with disabilities before so their eyes were opened to people who are different from them.

This is some of my team members and local people working on building a house. The family was so thankful for the work we did. The non-church-going husband of the family called this house his miracle house and his attitude has been very much changed by our service. Some of the teens pictured above helped out too!

This is the entire group! It was great fun to hang out with them working on something very purposeful and necessary. 

We went to West Haven which is a home for people with disabilities. They have about 80 residents (children to adults) and only 10 staff. They work very hard! I really enjoyed being able to play with some of them and participate in lunch time. The teens who went with us were touched because they had not really ever been around people with disabilities. 

Posing

Swinging

Dancing 

We also held a 2-hour VBS for children in the neighborhood of a school that we painted. About 30 kids ages 3-15 showed up! The MK teens who had prepared stories to share did an awesome job! They were nervous about it, but they really did great and I was proud of them. My role in that was more of an organizer role, along with the principal and administrative assistant of the school. 

Kids listening to the story.

Enjoying playing outside during one of the breaks.

Thanks so much for your prayers!