Sunday Funday: April 12

One of my good girl friends has a feening for hiking lately.  This past Sunday we decided to scratch that itch by planning a hiking trip to Quartz Mountain.  She had actually wanted to hike the Wildlife Refuge but that was in the opposite direction of how I had planned to spend my Sunday morning, so we decided to hold switch paths for this week.

I started the day by waking up early and heading to Altus for worship at my favorite church.  I love going there for many reasons, one being that I know I am completely there for God, not others' opinions or approvals.  I'm there for one reason only and that is heart-felt, beautiful worship.

Sure enough the praise was awesome and the holy spirit was strong.  The sermon was about the parable of the seeds.  I found it very inspiring and took several pages of notes from the discussion.  At twelve o'clock, as always, I was sad to leave the sanctuary but I knew it was time to continue my journey out in the world.

I had taken just a few steps outside when I saw a good friend of mine.  He informed me of an event going on downtown and told me I should come.  So I parked my car and checked it out.  It was the Walking on Chalk event hosted by Main Street Altus.  I had heard of this event and wanted to see it for myself in years past but had never made it.  I loved it!  Artwork all over the streets is fun to watch and enjoy.  Before too long I found myself paying five bucks to enter a drawing myself.  I knew I wasn't much up for the prize money because most of these artists had bags and bags of specialized chalk.  They had came early to stake out the good pieces of concrete and their works were premeditated.  Regardless, I had an hour to kill before my friends would arrive in Altus and I wanted to get some art out of my system.

For weeks a phrase out of an Elin Hilderbrand book had haunted me.  "She was her own happy ending."  The moment I read it I felt the connection and minutes later I saw the vision.  I had something I needed to create.  Because this was fresh on my mind I chose the Art Walk as a fair enough place to create it.

First I picked a smooth square slab of concrete, but I was soon told that adults had to use parking spaces, not squares.  I was okay with this, until I realized that the only smooth parking spaces were across the road and they had already been filled up.  A lady instructed me to use the parking spaces on this side of the road and try to find a smooth one.  The problem was, these spaces were on asphalt, therefore they were jagged and course, making it hard to chalk on.  I didn't have a choice though, so I complied.

Very soon I found myself getting extremely into my chalk art.  I was kneeling down then standing up and moving from one side of the parking slot to the other.  The hair, the brains, the beauty and colors of it all were coming together.  This was my masterpiece that needed to be seen and felt.  The process took me nearly an hour and I felt pleased with my work, though I knew it was rough and choppy due to the canvas.

Several of my friends greeted me when I finished.  Altus friends who just happened to be walking around.  I was invited to a bar-b-que and a different hiking trip.  Unfortunately around this time I needed to change out of my church clothes (jeans and a t-shirt) and into my hiking clothes (shorts and a tank top.)  So I headed to my friend Bailey's house to change clothes and catch up on life.  Of course, this always takes longer than 15 minutes and that was all the time I had until my girls were meeting up with me.

So I was late.

But I met the girls at a parking lot across town just a half hour later.  We drove into the North until we came to a trail we liked near Quartz Mountain.

The hike was beautiful!  We found ourselves off and on the path, in the middle of craters and even on top of a large rock.  The funniest part was that Katrina and I kept seeing identical scenes from the Lion King.  We saw the crevice where the hyenas hide, the valley when it was destroyed, the place where Simba crawled back up and even a few more.

My phone said we hiked about three miles.  It was exhilarating but it also made us very hungry.  Naturally, our final stop for the day involved sushi at our favorite hibachi joint.  We feasted.  Calamari, Crab Ragoon, Miso Soup, and House Salads for appetizers, plus two Sushi rolls and two hibachi plates.  We had hiked up quite the appetite!

Overall I would say this was a very memorable and fun Sunday.  We plan on hiking again very soon.

Coffee and Bikes

So I'm trying to get more consistent again at blogging.  I started working at a coffee shop a few weeks ago so I can be up at 6 a.m. and have time to get things done before socializing becomes a priority and distraction and so I can have time to read, write and pray, as I enjoy doing so.  You've probably noticed the last two weeks I have posted (yay) but it is Thursday and I have yet to post for this week.  So this is a forced post, but they say you have to make yourself do the hard stuff so you can reap the benefits later.  Plus the more you do something, the more you do something.  So as this may not be the best post, (it's not inspired or amazing) it is a post and it is out there.  I might have other unusual posts soon too, because I am trying to expand my talents as a writer and creator.

Tuesday was a fun morning at the coffee shop.  A regular and I sat there talking and drinking like always when two adventure-loving souls walked in.  Two young men dressed from head to toe in biking gear.  Red faced and sweaty from the already 100 degree Oklahoma weather, they looked around confused and asked me if they could park their bikes inside the shop.  "Sure, why not?" I replied.

Instantly my head started reeling with questions.  Who were they?  Where were they going?  Why were they getting coffee before a bike ride?  Isn't that bad for you?  I took a breathe and calmed myself down before I burst with questions.

"Hi, how are ya'll?"

"Great, just thought we'd come by and grab some coffee before we head out."

"Where are you going," I asked, relieved I finally had an opportunity to question them.

They then began to explain that they were "riding for affordable housing."

"What the heck does that mean?" I asked.

The redheaded guy began to explain that it was a non profit organization called Bike and Build (Bikeandbuild.org) The organization is made up of 18-25 year olds raise money then ride form coast to coast building houses and working in conjunction with local Habitat for Humanity locations.

What a fun idea!  I thought to myself, and proceeded to ask dozens of questions about everything from camping to biking gear to their physical fitness.  Surprisingly enough, neither of the young men had any type of bike training before they jump on a cross-country ride.  The darker one said the furthest he had rode before this was about 8-10 miles.  Wow!   I couldn't believe it.  I did a duathlon a couple of years ago and my first day of training was 5 miles.  5 miles on a bike is so insignificant if you are even in halfway decent shape.  Within a week I was riding 10 and for the race I rode 18 miles.

What about the pace? I asked.

With a group of about 40 riders on each of the 8 American routes, it is hard to ride in a pack.  The group tends to break up into smaller groups of about 3 or 4 and ride at their own pace, so speed is never a factor.  A supply van rides behind the pack with all sorts of medical things, food, and luggage.

In between my questions I had the chick who was in there with me pipe up.

"I don't know what all you guys do, but here's 10 bucks and any coffee or treats you get today are on me" she said.

How cool!  The guys were super appreciative, as they were pinching pennies to get across the states.  We asked them a few more questions about the routes, the set up and the fun they'd had.  Before they left the chick and I prayed over these two guys and asked the Lord to give them safe travels.  After only 5 minutes of adventure-talk these guys had to hit the road.  Dissapointed hope left me there in the shop.  I was dissapointed because I wanted to go with them, I wanted to ask more questions, and I wanted to hear more stories.  However I was hopeful because I had an idea of what I might do next summer. :)

For more information check out bikeandbuild.org and if you are a personal friend of mine please contact me if you would like to look into applying further.  I am very interested and would like to bring some friends.

Well that ends chapter 1 of the coffee adventures.  More to come soon..maybe!