Santa Cruz, California, October 28th, 2014

Santa Cruz, California, October 28th, 2014

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Fry bread tacos are what they eat in heaven.

Oh my WORD!!
I had my first "Indian Taco" tonight. It probably had 4592 calories!!! Mmmmm.
John is going to ask me what I ate while I was away, cuz I'm sure I'll look like a beached planet when I get home.

Today we went to the Heard Museum in Phoenix.
Guess who was there??
Magua!!
Okay, it was Wes Studi's poster of himself as Geronimo.
But hello? He was Magua too!
They had an exhibit on Geronimo and included the movie posters from several Geronimo films. I took pictures of all the posters so no one will ask my why I had a picture of Wes Studi in among photos of Navajo rugs and clothing.

The museum was incredible, we even were the last ones there and had to be told to leave.
Awesome!!!

Then we went for Indian tacos at a famous fry bread place . Mmmmmmmmm.

Tomorrow it's back to Dillards so my friends can spend their gift cards and then to a huge Native American store to get a few goodies.

For research, dontcha know.

Thank you for your kind notes and prayers, it is a blessing to know I'm being prayed for.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

CHIEF Center

Hello from the Christian Hope Indian Eskimo Fellowship Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

Flagstaff was all that I needed it to be.
Window Rock and Fort Defiance was too.
This trip has been amazing!!
My tour guides, Karen Antone and Kathy Antone Arbeau are the kind of sisters that I wish my sister and I were.
I think I found my real life "hero", only I didn't tell him at the nice potluck we were having that I need a photo of him for the publishing house cover artist. I've also gotten 2 culturally appropriate Navajo names from my friend Helen Yazzie for my main character and his wife.

Tomorrow we're going to SLEEP IN!!!!!
Thankyou for your prayers.

Jennifer

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Magua was my tour guide.

I went to the memorial for the Bosque Redondo today and the walking tour thingie that we picked up to listen to the tour was none other the Great Wes Studi, otherwise known as Magua.

The memorial was utterly sad and depressing. 3000 people died in  4 1/2 years. The army lived in nice homes, the Navajo lived in holes dug in the ground. On the Walk, 2 women went into labout and the soldiers shot them rather than stop and wait for the babies to be born. What I read about the Walk up until today was nowhere near as bad as what I learned today. To see the country that they were marched across is utterly desolate and barren. Very few trees, I have no idea where they'd have gotten their water.

Women were assaulted in front of their husbands and the soldiers would have guns on the husbands. Terrible sick awful treatment.
Such sin. Such evil.

The trip was exhausting, I had a four hour delay in Chicago and arrived at midnight, I'd been up for 21 1/2 hours by the time I'd gotten to where we're staying. And it was ONLY 103 degrees.

We drove through Oklahoma and Texas and stayed in Santa Rosa, New Mexico the first night out. Tonight I am in Window Rock at the friends of my friends.

We went up to the Rock and took tonnes of photos.


My laptop will NOT pick up wifi here. Maybe the Government of Canada has a block on Arizona wifi.


Flagstaff is tomorrow and I can't remember what is next. Imagine me with carlag and timezone change and total exhaustion.

That's all for now.
 I'll post again when I can.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Hello?

I just had one of those "are you listening? Cuz I AM is talking" moments. My books. 2013.
On shelves.

This scares the living daylights out of me.
"Did I give you a spirit of fear?"

Nope.

Then listen. And tell.

Oklahoma!!




I wonder if they'll sing this for me when the plane lands?

Monday, July 16, 2012

Grace, blessings and over rolled R's.

Hello.

I am TRYING not to obsess about the trip.

Hahahaha!!

No really, I promise.

Other than buying some maple syrup and chocolates. Only to find out when I got home that someone else requested chocolates. But hey, I am FINE with that!

I have some paperwork to do and a column to write and I am ignoring them.

I am avoiding them so badly that I just mopped two bathrooms instead.



I'm listening to classical music on itunes. Suo Gan sung by Susan Bullock. LOVE it. Although she overkills rolling her R's.

Yeah, maybe I should shut up since I haven't sung on the BBC... yet.




Still no word on any injuries from the 3 boys at camp. WOOO!!!

And my daughter hasn't reported any pregnancies. Yay.



I am struck lately by God's incredible grace and blessing on me.
He made me a writer.
And I am about to go to where my story is set.
That slays me.

I have done NOTHING worthy of His gifts.
And yet, He still delights in me and blesses me.

Me?

Who am I that He would call me by name?


Friday, July 13, 2012



Hello mi compadres!!!

Here's the new hair and yet another to see me ramble and say "ummmm".

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

RED hair!

My stylist was in a motorcycle crash last week.
My appointment was last week.
She had the nerve to break 2 ribs and crack her hip bone BEFORE she did my hair.
I know, right?
RUDE.
Wanna hear a song?
Mememememememememememememe!!!!!!!!!!

My word, I felt bad for her and awful because my FIRST thought was "but I was getting foils done!!"
What.
A.
Loser.

She's off work for a month.
The poor thing.

Thank the Lord that He knows exactly how self absorbed I am.

My very nice next door neighbour is a stylist, and get this....
I actually LIKE what she did MORE than what my stylist does.
Now I have great hair and a fabulous back-up in case my regular stylist goes horse back riding.

8 days and counting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you say "excited"???
Gooooood, I knew you could.

And speaking of eights.

8 pounds off!!!!
I'm doing the glycemic index/low carb/no sugar eating habit...thing.
I refuse to use the D word.

I'm the lightest I've been since 2009, and I'm down 16 pounds since last summer.
YAY!!!

My reward, if I drop the 50-60pounds I'm aiming for, is a pair of vintage Levi's 501 button fly jeans. Old school wash, no pre-fading.

I finished the Deep POV revision on my WIP and cut a grand total of 14,000 words.
Hellllooooo needless back story and surgical revisions.

Thanks for visiting, and here's my question....




If you had to chose another country to live in, which one would it be and why?

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Happy 70th!!!

Today is my Mom's 70th birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

My mom has gone from being a single mother, at the age of 22 with 3 kids, to being married to a fab-u-liss man and living in a townhouse on a golf course.

God carried her through some harsh years. REALLY harsh years.
Most of that pain was from the judgement of others.
Isn't it insane how "the church" can willingly and publicly shun a divorced young woman, but allow hypocrisy to roam freely?
Hmmmm.

Anyway,  God has been her champion and sent her a husband who fought for her. And us kiddies.
Let me tell you, he is NOT my "step-father" not when the papers say we adopted him. ;)

Two weeks from RIGHT NOW I'll be arriving at the airport in Halifax and getting ready to go through security and customs and hop my flight to Oklahoma.

I'm sorry.

OooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo-klah-hooo-mah where wind comes ripping down the plaaaaains!

Or something.

I'll be the one on the flight trying hard not to sing my way into Delta Airlines infamy. Cuz I bet NO one has ever sung that tune when they landed in Oklahoma City.
Which , according to the weather channel, is 892.8F right now.
In the shade.
Under the carpark.
Through the tunnel.

I was thinking about what to bring and the thought occured to me that I will not need a sweater. Hahaha!!
I'm SUCH a Canadian, we ALWAYS have a sweater handy.
I'l bring a cotton waffle knit pullover, for the cool nights in Flagstaff.
Besides, umm, there ARE malls...

I have a 4 or 5 hour layover in Chicago, so at least I can walk around in between melting on the planes. I always melt on planes.

Oh, 2 weeks of rigid discipline and I'm 7 pounds down.

I hope to hit the 10 pound mark before the trip.

Thankfully for me, heat kills my appetite. As long as I have a few apples, a water bottle and a yogurt or 2, I'll be fine.

And , according to my tour guides, I'll also have at least 2 Indian tacos and a platter of Mexican food. Every day.

Maybe I should  bring some spandex pants too?

Tuesday, July 3, 2012



This is much better than the other one .
AND my hair is flattened.

Go me.