Getaway weekend

Here in Mexico, the country's independence is celebrated on the 15th and 16th of September, so this year on the 16th there was no school. A few of us girls decided to take advantage of the long weekend and head up to Prescott, AZ for a getaway (and of course, as one last celebration of my 30th!). 

We left Thursday around 12:30, once us teachers were out, and were on our way. I don't think I have sat in a car for that many hours in quite awhile and I was a bit sore once we arrived (or is that maybe a sign of getting old??)!

Raquel, me, and Pau in the backseat.

We made reservations at the Texas Roadhouse in Prescott and I got to enjoy a great steak and sweet potato! (One of my favorite food combinations!)

 Geo and Raquel showing off the peanut can.

 me, Nicole, and Pau

Pau had mentioned to the waitress that we were celebrating my birthday (and thankfully they didn't come sing to me!) so at the end of our meal she brought me a bowl of ice cream. I had already eaten a blizzard on the way to Prescott (a Nutter Butter one...pretty good I might add) so I didn't really want to eat more and passed the bowl around to the other girls. We were all pretty full by this point but I felt bad leaving ice cream in the bowl since the waitress had been so kind to bring me some...so Geo offered to mush it up so it would look like it had just "melted" :).

 Geo "mushing" the ice cream. :)

Pau was getting something out of her purse, which she thought felt a little heavy, and this is what she found... A "just in case" can I guess. ;)

It was dark by the time we headed up to the cabin that the Knochel family had so gracious let us use for the weekend. The cabin was about 15-20 minutes out of town up a winding, narrow (drop-off-ledge-in-places) road. In some ways I think it was good that it was dark and we didn't get the full idea of what it all involved until morning! Geo drove up to the cabin that night and did a great job!

Some pictures of the cabin and deck view:

 Hard to believe we were really still in AZ! Not exactly the desert we usually see!

View from the kitchen looking into the livingroom with the loft up above.

Friday morning we headed out to go hiking at a place called Lynx Lake.

Geo and I ready to go

On the way we saw this line of mail boxes and stopped to take a picture...

Lynx Lake:

  

 We stopped to take a group picture or two before heading to the trails.

 Raquel, Geo (in back), me, Nicole, and Pau (in front)

 (Pau missed the CVE shirt memo. ;) )

It took us a few attempts to find the right trail, but eventually we hiked around the lake and past the dam. It was really pretty and good exercise. :)

Saturday we hung out in the morning and in the evening headed into town to spend some time with the local church family. But before we left we had to take one more group picture. :)

Sunday was a blessing to be at church (I realized it was the first time in quite a while that I had been in an AC church besides Magdalena, Gridley or Champaign!). The sermons were encouraging and really spoke to life right now for us. After church we headed back to Magdalena and back to "real" life.

I am thankful for the opportunity we had to spend some time together as sisters in Christ, to catch up on some quiet time with the Lord, and to enjoy fellowship and be encouraged by other fellow believers.

And I am thankful to be back in Magdalena. While life here may not always or often be easy, I am thankful to call it "home" and thankful for the work God is doing here.

I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high. Psalm 7:17

Random update

Last Friday, Lilly invited the girls from the house to spend the night at her house so a group of us older girls got together for supper and to hang-out. It was good to reconnect!

We had great stir-fry for supper.

Kali, Raquel, and Katie

 Sarah, Pau, and I

It was super windy that night so after eating outside we moved inside. 

 Geo and Sarah 

 Roomie picture

 Pau and I

The other day at recess I saw this...

 If you can't tell what it is, it was a bunch of buzzards circling overhead. 

As soon as I saw their red heads I was immediately reminded of this time when I met one a little too up-close and personal!! 

Yesterday, Ely turned 20! A group of us went out to eat at Momo's and then to Café Sed afterward.

 Before supper, Ely opening her gifts

 The other half of the table

 Bill and Joan being cute. :)

Ely and I at Café Sed.

Tomorrow, Lord willing, a few of us girls take off for a weekend of descanso (rest) and fellowship (and of course to celebrate my turning 30 one more last time!). I pray that more than anything it can be a time to be still and spend time with our Sustainer, the One who doesn't need us but chooses to use us anyway.

Thanks for continuing to pray for the battles we face. Praise God that Satan is going to lose and Jesus Christ will be glorified! 

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10 (emphasis mine)

At recess the other day...

**If you are having trouble viewing the videos (not sure what the problem is...) you can find them by following the link on the side that says Carissa's Pictures, under the Sept. album.**

Do we have a teacher in the making...? :)

Candi to Ángel: What letter is this?

Find me the letter... 

Thank you for your continued prayers for us here at CVE. The battle rages and we are becoming a little more knowledgeable about what we are up against. You can see the last post if you are interested in further prayer requests.

Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee. Psalm 33:20-22

the birthday that never ends

Sunday night at supper finished off my birthday month and then some... 

Before supper someone brought out a piece of my favorite oatmeal cake with amazing frosting and I got serenaded with "Feliz cumpleaños" one last time.

 My attempt at smiling for the camera failed as I have a problem blinking at the wrong time. So this is as good at it gets. 

 Then came the mob of kids ready and waiting to help me with my "mordida". 

They were kind enough to remove my glasses first. :)

They were all quite enthusiastic...

 but not quite satisfied with the results.

So they (a few in particular, like Julissa :) ) insisted that it must be redone, and better this time! 

Oh, what we don't do to humor our kids here. :)

 This was a little more satisfactory I think!

So I guess that ends my birthday for this year...and I can just enjoy being more "wise" and "mature" as a 30 year-old... :)

Oh, actually, I forgot. It doesn't end my birthday celebration. In a little less than two weeks a few of us girls are taking off for the weekend to celebrate once again! We were wanting to plan this earlier and it didn't work out. It seems like it's been a while since I've gotten away so I am looking forward to it!

We'll just call this the birthday that never ends!

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.  

Psalm 90:12

Mordida pictures and prayer requests

For those of you who wondered about the lack of "mordida" pictures from my birthday... stay tuned. That will likely come tomorrow. We don't all eat together as much anymore during the week, so lately a lot of birthdays have been celebrated at our Sunday suppers which is our CVE family time.  I think my birthday is on the schedule for tomorrow. And for Levi, if for no one else, I will let them smash my face in my cake. :)

Also, I have a more thorough, updated list of prayer requests for all that is going on here, the battles that we are facing, but I am not going to post them at this point. However, if you are interested send me an email at carissajschlipf@gmail.com or leave me a comment, and I will send them to you. Thanks for all of you who continue to pray for us! 

God bless your weekend!

The big 3-0

So on Wednesday I turned the big 3-0. 

To be honest it was not so traumatic in and of itself... just means a new stage of life and hopefully a certain level of maturity and wisdom has come from the past 30 years.

Anyway, yesterday (and the last few weeks) was fun celebrating, thanks to some great friends and family! 

Over the past weeks I have received un montón (quite a pile) of birthday cards and a several boxes of goodies. Thank you to each one of you that took the time to write or email a card, write a note, send a gift, say a prayer, remember me on my birthday and "birthday month"!

On Wednesday, my birthday officially started at 7:00 a.m. when I got my first call from Pau, Kali, and the girls at their house singing me Happy Birthday. :) This was followed by another call at 7:30 with another Happy Birthday serenade and a message a bit later. Soon I caught on that they were planning on passing on 30 Happy Birthday messages throughout the day! :)

 Momo's (a famous local taco restaurant) gives a free meal on your birthday, so a few of us girls headed out to celebrate for lunch. But not before I headed home to change after school and found this in the entry:

Along with this on the cupboard above the frig...

(translated this says more or less: Dear birthday-girl: What effort to arrive at 30, but you have to keep working and we are going to put you to work. Look for 10 wrapped objects. We love you! Geo, Pau, Nicole, and Bere)

In my room I found this:

and this:

Along with a lot of balloons all over my room:

So my search began...

At first I just found a couple...

But then I found this in the cupboard...

And this, though I don't think it counted as a wrapped gift, but some Throwback Mt. Dew :)

Pretty soon I had found all of these...

I think I still am missing one gift, but I imagine it will show up somewhere around here! What creative and thoughtful friends I have!!

Here we are headed to Momo's:

Back: Geo, Sarah, Pau, In front: Nicole, and Raquel (just missing Bere who was driving and I)

After lunch we headed to Café Sed, where you also get a free drink on your birthday. :) (Got to take advantage of the freebies!)

Pau, Sarah, Geo, and Raquel

Bere, me, and Nicole

This picture looks funny I know. Oh well, I humored them. :)

All of us girls:

Some of the great friends God has blessed me with!! 

What a blessing to be serving the Lord together!

Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 
Psalm 30:4