I was doing so well in writing regularly here, and then my iPhoto crashed and I started having other computer issues, which put an end to my daily photo post for more than a month. I finally got things back under some kind of control so am able to post again. Which brings me to my road trip of last weekend. On a whim, I decided to check out Sedona, so drove 2 hours north for the day last Saturday. I have seen pictures of the red rock formations, but nothing compares to seeing them in person. They are quite something to behold.
I drove the loop throughout the area and saw most of the famous formations, stopping frequently to take pictures, ending up with nearly 300! My favorite stop was at the Chapel of the Holy Cross
. There's something about a small chapel like that--about walking into a space so completely and obviously there for heart-healing--a space so clearly meant to bring peace of mind and heart and soul. The view of the cross and beyond, the scent of candles, the overwhelming presences of God the comforter and the creator...it was just what I needed.
I enjoyed walking through the arts and crafts village of Tlaquepaque (pronounced Tla-keh-pah-keh). Built in the 1970s after a Mexican village, the word means "the best of everything." There are some 40 shops and restaurants to explore. I had lunch at the Secret Garden Cafe--an amazing garden burger like none I've ever had. Delicious! I met a man there who said he had "flown up from Phoenix" to have lunch there. Made me laugh...probably took him as long to fly as it took me to drive...although it would have ben a beautiful day to fly.
As I was driving from photo op to photo op, eyes wide open to all there was to see, my mind was busy running through graduation talk topics. Yes, the seniors have asked me to speak for their graduation. I am beyond honored to have been asked. I've spoken for graduations before, so it shouldn't be a big deal. Only it is. I've literally given hours and hours of thought to what I would speak about and have yet to land on the perfect thing. All this pre-writing, though, it's been good for me. Just hope it turns into something written soon!
(I wrote this at the end of March, but had trouble with uploading the photos.) It's been nearly two weeks since I've written here. There's really no excuse for not writing sooner, at least in this week as it's my spring break. The past two weeks, though were crazy--a lot of stuff going on at school, with evening meetings two and three days in a row. We have our accreditation evaluation next year and have a lot of stuff to do to get ready for it, so that's much of what we're working on. I am actually enjoying the collaboration. We haven't worked together very much as a staff, so this is a good opportunity for us to get to know each other both professionally and personally.
Meanwhile, it's my spring break. I toyed with going away, and at one point my parents were going to come out for the week, but neither ended up happening. Instead, I've been getting things done here--gardening, deep cleaning--and visiting some local venues--including the Desert Botanical Gardens...again (I was there two weeks ago). We had a good rain at the beginning of last week, so the flowers had really popped out. Here are some of my favorite pictures from that visit (including some of the birds and beasts I saw there):
