Our Vacation - WE NEED YOUR INPUT!

Jonny and I are going on a road trip and we have the basic destinations planned... I would still love your feedback! How much time do we need in the Utah locations (excluding SLC/Provo)?


9th: Mission Viejo - CA, to (LEAVE AT NOON) 7 hrs.

9-11th: Yosemite National Park - CA, to (LEAVE EARLY) 10 hrs.

11-16th: Boise - ID, to (LEAVE MID-MORNING) 5 1/2 hrs.

16-20th: Salt Lake City/Prove - UT, to (LEAVE MID-MORNING) 5 hrs.

20-21st: Arches National Park - UT, to (LEAVE MID-MORNING) 5 1/2 hrs.

21-23rd: Bryce Canyon/Zion National Park - UT, to (LEAVE EARLY) 6 hrs.

23-24th: Grand Canyon - AZ, to (LEAVE EARLY) 8 hrs.

24th: Mission Viejo - CA, home



1) Does anyone have suggestions for what we can do in Arches, Bryce and Zion?

2) Does anyone know what side of the Grand Canyon we should travel to (North or South rim)?

3) Main destinations are Boise, Salt Lake, and Grand Canyon - can anyone suggest a better road trip/sites in between?

4) Are we spending appropriate amounts of time in the non-destination locations?

5) What "MUST-DO's" should we experience on this road trip?



Looking forward to your feedback,

Jonny and Kim



(If you know anyone that is familiar with these locations, please ask for their opinion!!)

USANA Day #2/5

DAY 2:

Weight: 145.3
Waist: 38 1/2
Steps: 7,000

Today was hard as heck, but easier than the first day. I was told that it might take me longer to loose weight because I'm diabetic and my body is already insulin resistant, but I don't know if it's true. All I know is that I'm creating healthier lifestyle habits and I can't regret that.

-KP

USANA Day #1/5

Only a few closer friends know about my blog, so I will update you with what's new in my life. I have gained oh-so-much lbs. since my glory days at Biola, and I've gotten to a point where I'm not okay with it anymore. That's not to imply I've never been at this place before - trust me, I have. This time, I've decided to try something a little bit more intense; something that will hopefully keep me accountable to a healthier lifestyle. It's called USANA. I guess the whole APU football team has been hooked on this as well, but we'll see how it works for me. Basically I've signed up for a 5 day "RESET" program, where I have a shake meal replacement for breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with a snack inbetween the major meals and vitamins in the AM and PM. During these 5 days, I'm supposed to kick my sugar addiction along with my obsessionate need for carbs. If you know me (a diabetic) you know I'm a sugar-holic. Don't ask how those two go together... Clearly they shouldn't.

Every morning I'm supposed to take my waist measurment, weight, and walk 3000 steps per day. Today is day #1 and I didn't have a scale, pedometer or a tape measure... So I just ran up to Walmart and got all of my supplies (for about $20). Since I didn't have everything this morning, I had to weigh and measure at 2pm (therefore my numbers tomorrow should be a lot smaller). Or at least I hope so...

DAY 1
Weight: 145.3
Waist: 39"
Walk/Steps: TBD

Every night at 5pm I will get on a phone conference call and check in to report my numbers and hopefully get some encouragment for everyone else who is joining me in this journey.

Wish me luck, but I sure will need it to get through these next 4 1/2 days.

-KP

Jack and Milli Parker

Have you ever wondered what Jon and my kids will look like? If I'm honest, this is probably the biggest reason I have to get pregnant one day. I can't wait to see what their faces will look like, the color eyes they will have, not to mention how soon they will go gray (young if they take after daddy, old if they take after mommy). I logged into my email about a week ago and I had a message from http://www.thenest.com/ that was willing to answer that question for me and hopefully put my curiousity to rest.

Here are the pictures of Jonny and myself that I added online into this cyber kid creater/viewer:

Jonny Parker - May 29, 2009 (Very handsome!)

Kim Parker - May 29, 2009 (Not bad)

Now this is where it gets ugly. No pun intended...

The nest takes the photos of the lovely couple and combines our features into a child. Here is our baby Jack and Milli:

If this is a sign for things to come, I will take it upon myself - for the sake of the world - to NOT reproduce.

Better yet, let's let God be the ultimate creator and not the Internet. My faith is in Him to make a masterpiece (rather than just a "piece" like www.thenest.com).

KP

New Couches

Jonny and I just received our new couches this week. You might wonder why we bought new ones when our last one was practically brand new. Well... The reason is because that couch was harder than a rock!

We went to Matthes Brothers with the Fahey's a few weekends ago and walked through the entire store and eventually came back to this couch that we didn't even see when we had first walked in. SUPER comfy, but not our style or color. Some how we still decided to buy it and I am so glad we did. Still not my "typical" color choice, but I think that's okay. As long as it matches everything else in our room, I guess it doesn't matter, right?

Picture of the new couches

Now this is where we need you! We went to Ikea tonight to purchase some pillows for our new couch and we weren't sure which color scheme to move towards. Keeping the curtains we already have, we came across the following pillows and think they look okay. What are you thoughts? Also, if you scroll back up to the first photo, do you agree that we should have the dark brown drape in the front and the light one in the back (as seen in the second picture)?

Picture of the new pillows

-KP

Smarty Pig Savings

Meeting #2

Tonight, Jonny and I meet with our 3 LDS friends who are serving their Mormon mission in our community. During the first official meeting, we discussed the Restoration which is basically all about a great apostasy post-apostles dying, Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon (which I will refer to as the BOM). Our first discussion was over in a blink of an eye, so I invited the girls to come back over and recap their lesson and allow me to ask questions - real questions.

I still think even after tonight's conversation, the girls think I'm pre-Mormon and it's just a matter of time before I convert. I think part of me feels "bummed" because I'm not meeting with them out of desire to change my faith, but rather to share truth according to the Bible and the Holy Spirit of the Bible. In my disappointment, I am still trying to be hopeful by relying on the Holy Spirit - that He is greater than me and is able to bring the increase to seeds I tried to plant.

After a very rough start because I couldn't find my passage reference, I finally brought the girls to Ezekiel 47 and then to John 2 and Jon 7. To sum everything up, I tried to show them my understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit in a Christians life, and the fulfillment Jesus had of the Temple (implying that we don't need one anymore) and ultimately the promise of the Holy Spirit in our life.

Here are a few areas we agree to disagree in:

• They don't believe in the Trinity - that the Holy Spirit is fully God. Father, Son and HS are same in purpose, but that's about it. How do I have a conversation with them if we don't even have common ground on who God is?
• As of right now, they still see a need for prophets and apostles because Ephesian 4:11-14. As an evangelical Christian, what is your response to their use of this passage?

I was able to express why we have so many different translations of the Bible. To put it simply, over time, people and culture change which implies that the words of the Bible need to be "updated" to match the new language of that culture. I'm not talking about the content of the scripture, but simply the choice of words.

I think that might be all I can remember for now. I would really appreciate your feedback friends... And your prayers!

KP