Thanksgiving in Seattle

Found some cheap tickets and flew up Seattle to celebrate Thanksgiving with some friends of ours. We had never flown Virgin America before, and were pleasantly surprised by how interesting they made the flight with mood lighting and music. We'd fly them again if they went where we needed to go.



We spent a lot of time wandering through the downtown area, popping our heads into various shops, checking out their central library (which is enormous), exploring Pike's Place Market, and just enjoying being outside in the rain.



Was amused by the auto rickshaw's the police used to give out parking tickets. In college, a friend of mine wanted me to make a movie about guys cruising around Wisconsin in an imported auto rickshaw. With some money and an ounce more gumption it might have happened.

On Thanksgiving day we volunteered with our friends and their church at a downtown mission, helping serve a Thanksgiving meal to the homeless. Afterwards we had our Thanksgiving dinner with their church friends, in a lovely evening of good food and company.

It was a fun to see such lush mountains. I never realized how important trees were to me until I moved away from them. Yes, they have trees in Los Angeles, but not like they do in the Wisconsin countryside where I grew up. Seattle has trees like that though, and it was interesting to learn how important logging was to Seattle's founding. My ancestors were lumberjacks, so I felt connected to my surroundings while we visited.

Birthday Extravaganza 12/18-19/07

Wow did I ever have a great birthday! Definitely in my top three of all time. Although it didn't start out very promising:
We got back from our honeymoon cruise on the 18th. Unfortunately we came home to a bit of a disaster. Facility Services was in our apartment replacing the kitchen sink and doing some work in the bathroom while we were gone. They weren't terribly considerate of the mess they made as there was an impressive layer of industrial strength dust on EVERYTHING we have--even in the cupboards. We had to leave for a while and regroup before returning to begin the massive clean-up effort. We even had some neighbors stop by to clean our rather large book shelves while Brandon and I scrubbed out the kitchen. It was an extremely disheartening day, but it was also an excellent distraction for me.

As it turns out Brandon had been conspiring with our neighbors to throw a surprise party for me. At the last minute the party was moved to our upstairs neighbors' place instead of the original off-site plan. So they were scrambling around trying get things ready without me seeing. We had our door and windows all open, so they were so worried that I would see them sneaking around. However, I was so engrossed with the in-depth cleaning that I had absolutely no clue. So I thought nothing of it when our upstairs neighbors stopped by and asked us to come over and tell them about our trip. When it was time to go I was wearing my dirty t-shirt and track pants from cleaning and had every intention of going that way. Brandon talked me into jeans and a sweater saying that it would make me feel better. I'm glad he did. Imagine my surprise when after we started visiting with the couple upstairs all of these people jumped out and yelled, "SURPRISE!!" and it was a surprise. They had me. It was fun to hear them tell stories about all of their sneaky business in arranging this party and working hard to keep me clueless. We had pizza and played Pit. Good times! I felt blessed and loved.

The next day was my actual birthday. There was lots of talking on the phone as friends and family called to wish me a happy birthday and to hear about our cruise. I got to go shopping with my neighbor Melissa to spend my birthday money while Brandon was at work. Brandon's present to me was tickets to see Wicked at the Pantages Theatre that night. I love getting dressed up and going out to enjoy performing arts of many kinds, but this was an especially enjoyable evening. Check out the link to find out more about this musical production. http://wickedthemusical.com/#AboutWicked

Christmas Day

I got up bright and early this morning. Not so much to check my stocking but to do the dishes from Brandon's extravagant meal last night. Our deal is that Brandon does most of the cooking and I do all of the dishes. [That, I must add, is an awesome deal. For me. -- Brandon] Chefs spare no dishes when they are cooking, so there is always quite a pile when he's done. Though it is really hard to complain when he makes such good meals. After I had cleaned off some counter space, I put together a big pot of chili in the crock pot. I used serrano chilies and did my hands ever burn all day long. Clearly I am a novice at handling them. If anyone has any suggestions for avoiding the chemical burn from the chilies I'd love to hear about it.

Then we snuggled up to watch Flash Gordon, one of Brandon's childhood favorite films.

[This film is great. The music is by Queen. It's really just about the best imaginative crazy little film a sci-fi loving lad could have. It's got Hawkmen! Queen did the music! Max von Sydow outside of a depressing Ingmar-Bergman-film! and Queen! Yeah! -- Brandon]

You are not alone if you never heard of it, I hadn't either, but it was probably one of Brandon's favorite Christmas presents. [My two other favorites were: The Arcade Fire album "Neon Bible" from my friend Micah, and a wireless remote controlled helicopter from my parents. -- Brandon] The soundtrack is done entirely by Queen [Yeah! -- Brandon] causing some to classify it as a rock opera. It is a campy superhero story without the superpowers. Maybe that was it's point that you don't have to have superpowers to be a superhero. Flash Gordon is the hero for the common man apparently, for those of us who can't relate to extraordinary powers [Yet can relate Hawkmen. -- Brandon] .

Next, it was off to the beach. We went to Crystal Cove, our favorite beach out here, and wandered about until it was time to watch the sunset. Beautiful!! Watching the sun set behind Catalina Island as it sent it's sparkling rays over the waters is definitely not something we could do back in the Midwest.

[Really, the only thing that would make this scene better would be a soundtrack by Queen. And Hawkmen. Spelling out words as they fly in formation across the sky. Words like the lyrics from a great Queen soundtrack. Yeah! -- Brandon]

[Dez had fun writing things in the sand, since we had no Hawkmen to write things in the sky. -- Brandon]

[And after I stopped talking about Flash Gordon, Dez came back and cuddled up for this picture. But look at that smirk on my face. I'm totally going to say "Queen" again. Yeah! -- Brandon]

Lastly, we had our neighbors Raphael and Melissa over for supper. They like us, were among the very few in grad housing who didn't disperse to their various homelands for Christmas. I served up the chili that had been simmering all day. The smell alone made your mouth water. Brandon made some excellent guacamole. He must have chosen some perfectly ripe avocados as it was so flavorful. We use the recipe we found on Chipotlefan.com. We like to add more lime for extra zing in case your were wondering what our secret is. And of course there was good conversation and lots of laughter to complete this wonderful meal.

I am truly grateful for this time of life: to be married to Brandon, making it on our own in LA, the challenge and gift of my grad program, our wonderful neighbors with whom we delight in sharing life, faithful friends, that Brandon has a good job through which he's able to provide for us, and the opportunity to go on the deeper journey with the Lord both separately and together. My heart is full.

Can this be Christmas time?

I have to admit that it is more than a little strange to have sunny and 75 degree weather for Christmas. We are more familiar with the single digit temperature, gray, and snowy type Christmases back home. It's more like a gorgeous fall day here. The leaves are turned (well as much as they can in this temperate climate) and are slowly descending from their perches above. Today we decided to go to the park to celebrate this beautiful strangeness. Of course, we did stop at Starbucks for a special holiday coffee treat. Brandon had the eggnog latte and I had the peppermint mocha--delightful!!

Here are a few pics we took at the La Mirada Regional Park this afternoon:

[Dez has started taking artistic photographs. It's very exciting to see her express herself in this way. -- Brandon]

[Another of Dez's subjects. Leaves make her giddy. -- Brandon]

[If you're wondering how we get all these photo's of us, once again, it is Dez taking them. She's become quite adept at reaching forwards and pointing the camera back at us. -- Brandon]

[What is Christmas without ducks? (that is a setup...all you funny people out there can add the punchline.) -- Brandon]

It is also strange not to be with our families today. Our friends and family have faithfully and lovingly sent us Christmas cards and packages filled with treasures, but it's not at all the same as being with them. We miss you guys and will be thinking of you tonight when we open up those packages. At the same time, it's also been good for us to think about what it means to celebrate Christmas in our own way. What things did we do with our families that we would like to continue? What are some new things we would like to try? One thing we will keep the same is opening presents on Christmas eve night. That was always a very big deal in my house growing up because I don't think my dad could wait till Christmas morning. Something new for us will be a picnic on the beach on Christmas day.

Brandon is busy in the kitchen. He is making scallops and stuffed mushrooms for dinner tonight. He is quite the chef!

[Ah...she brags. Then again, I did create a photomontage of myself cooking... -- Brandon]

[End result: The scallops, though tasty, were slightly overcooked. I must have spent too much time posing for the camera. The veggies were good. The mushrooms had too much cream cheese, which made them an unfortunate blend of too rich and too disgusting. The snickerdoodles were as I remembered them from my childhood...chock full of the goodness. -- Brandon]

Peace and blessing to you dear family and friends in the name of our Lord Jesus.

The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Deuteronomy 8:24-26

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
Luke 2:13-14

Thanksgiving

It's high time I sat down and wrote our Thanksgiving adventure. It's been high time for a while, and I'm glad to finally be writing it. Some pretty fantastic things happened, and I have pictures to prove it.

This year was the first year that both Dez and I were away from our families on Thanksgiving. We were together though, and as we start a new family, I think it was good to experience alternative ways of celebration before we settle in on particular traditions.

Now, on with the adventure....Desiree has a professor who has a husband who operates a retreat center up in the mountains. This professor, along with her husband, invited all the students that were unable to return home for the holiday to the retreat center to celebrate Thanksgiving together.

We were quite excited about this invitation; and, along with a car full of new student-type friends, (who, I might add, were quite entertaining on the 2+ hour trip) traveled high into the mountains. We traveled up from sea level to over 6000 feet if the road signs were to be trusted. Our ears played games with us, but our lungs leaped at the presence of the fresh air.

It was dark upon our arrival Wednesday night. We ate a late dinner of fantastic gourmet pizza, and proceeded to have a very encouraging conversation with the other students. To be more accurate, there was one man, the husband of one of the students, who was telling his story, and the rest of us were listening. There were maybe a dozen of us or so. Though I shan't do his story justice attempting it's retelling, I will try to summarize it:

His story was about how God called him to become honest with his life, and to go on a deeper journey with God using that honesty as a starting point, and his heart as a destination. I shall write about two things that stood out to me, though there were more. 1) How much faith we can have that God will finish his work in us, and how this faith overrules all our fruitless efforts at self-improvement. 2) How often (and how much) the church (specifically, the evangelical church) gets in the way of our growth process. With it's spiritually guised message of self-improvement and it's confusion and lack of experience with the actions of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, the church cannot help but hinder our spiritual formation. Of these two things, the first I found very encouraging, and the second very validating.

After the large group discussion broke for the night, we sat in the hot tub for a while. The water was a little too cold and the seats were a little too high, such that your chest was well above water. The mountain air was clear and clean, but chilled, and the effect of the hot tub was a blend of relaxation gone askew into frustration. What indeed is worse than a good thing gone slightly afoul? But I digress with exaggeration, perhaps, for it was not so unpleasant that we boycotted its pleasures.



Our room for the night contained two twin-sized beds. Me and Dez tried sleeping together in the same bed cuddled very closely together, but it was not working as well as we would have liked. We switched to separate beds, but after an hour or two we missed each other such that we couldn't sleep and we climbed back together in the same bed again. Then once more we would grow crowded, and separate, but then come together again, and so on and so on throughout the night. We didn't sleep as soundly as we had hoped for, but our antics amused us such that it didn't bother us as much as one would think.



The next morning we ate a marvelous breakfast, and then proceeded to hike about out in the woods. We had forgotten the elevation we were at, with the air thinner and such, but our excitement was great being atop mountains and surrounded by trees and rocks and other such things. We saw a deer. We saw a little lizard. We saw many songbirds that, though similar to those in the Midwest, were still quite different. I won't tell of all our adventures in the woods, but one discovery simply cannot be silenced! The pine cones were enormous! As big as our heads! It was perhaps the most surprising thing I have seen in California thus far.



Upon our return from the hike we ate the Thanksgiving meal, and then proceeded to have a little service. We packed our things and said our goodbyes and began the journey home. It was our first Thanksgiving together, and it was a good one.