Greetings From San Francisco!

I arrived in Oakland last night where I am staying with my friend Debbie- So good to be back in the Bay Area! I left 90+ degree Texas heat for a high in S.F. today of 51! It is just how S.F. is in my mind- Foggy, cold, and noisy. Deb's apartment is in a cute 1920's brick building complete with fire escape, old wood floors, crown molding, and lots of personality. She went to work this morning, and I am going to take the train into the city later today. Our other friend (and one of my college roommates) Elisse is coming in this evening from Folsom. No, she is not an inmate there. Do people in Texas even know what Folsom is? I guess if you listen to Johnny Cash you know. Anyway, it is a quaint city with a rather large state prison.

California Here I come...

Only 2 days until I (Jana) fly out to California for 2 weeks at our family cabin at Bass Lake! Unfortunately Kent won't be able to join me this year, which totally stinks. I will be flying to the Bay Area (that's San Francisco for you Texans) and staying with my good friend Debbie Obernesser for a couple of nights, connecting with my college roomie/friend Elisse, then hitching a ride with my dad to the lake. I have gone to Bass Lake every summer of my life, and I am not about to give it up just because I live 1,600 miles away!

Forks burgers, fireworks, mountains, taco salad, onion rings from Miller's Landing, Whoopee Cushions from the Corner Store, waterskiing and tubing, a comfy hammock to read on, family, friends ... I am so JAZZED!

For those of you unfamiliar with Bass Lake, it is a beautiful emerald green lake just a few miles outside of Yosemite National Park. And unlike Southern Texas lakes, this one is not brown and you can see underwater. And... no large reptiles (though my brother Jeff used to tell me that someone had released Piranhas into the lake as well as "fresh water sharks"- That's big brothers for you.)

Let Them Eat Cake

This week I finally completed my last Wilton Cake Decorating course. I have been making cakes and attending class every Saturday since February. I love cake as much as the next person, but I was ready for it all to be over. Plus, the cakes we have to make are often kinda dated and old person-ish (no offense Grandma).

So... Yesterday I made one for my friend Whitney's birthday party tonight. After dinner everyone is going line dancing or something like that, so I went for a cowboy theme. I think this is my favorite one so far. I personally love the snakes.

"That There Is An R.V."

Last weekend Kent and I (along with many other wonderful volunteers and church employees) took 70 jr. high and high school kids to San Antonio on the annual "Road Trip". Normally, the kiddos stay in hotels, but this is KENT! Whose travel philosophy is "Why stay in a nice hotel when you can stay in an RV at a KOA?"

I had to drive this tenament on wheels full of 7th grade girls round trip from Houston to San Antone- And through tiny one-way streets surrounding the Alamo. Which by the way does not have a basement.... Thankfully I avoided side-swiping this famous pile of rocks in which Davy Crockett met his end, and I didn't kill any animals or pedestrians. Woo-Hoo!