Harvest Festival + Fuller Seminary

Last night, Tony and I joined the greater Fuller community in hosting a community wide event called Harvest Festival. Our apartment community was in charge of ‘clown bowling’ and we had a blast seeing everyone dressed up in very fun attire. There were so many creative costumes sported by various individuals, mostly kids… As usual, I pulled out the one ‘costume’ that continues to be my default from year to year. (Although the shoulder pads, aka hand towels, were a fun addition)

Tony had a few outfits of his own…

 

Unexpected Packages: We heart US Postal Service.

Another title for this could be… “One of the million reasons that we have the coolest parents in the world.”

I came home from a loooong day at work and kind of in a ‘blah’ mood to find a package waiting for me. The cursive handwriting is familiar as is the thoughtfulness. My parents have this ’signature touch.’ (As do Tony’s, but I’m not to them yet) I opened this package to find a handwritten letter from my Mom along with an awesome gift put together so I would ‘pamper myself.’ My parents are notorious for their generosity and loving kindness they extend to Tony and I.I remember growing up how I would always find a message written for me on a napkin in my lunch or a “pass it on” card added to my lunch o’ goodies or suitcase that I would take to camp.

Not more than a week later, another package arrives on our door… this time it is from Howell, Michigan! I wait until Tony gets home from counseling to open this one with him…. and we open it to find an equally thoughtful, awesome gift. Tony’s parents had sent us some Currey Farms Maple Syrup!! Now… I don’t know if they knew this, but we have been eyeing the organic, natural maple syrup at Trader Joe’s for a while but just couldn’t make the crossover in our grocery budget…. so now we have something EVEN BETTER to go w/ some chocolate chip pancakes OR the homemade OAT pancakes my friend Heidi made for me on Tuesday night! Tony’s parents also have this signature touch of surprise gifts… It is not unusual for them to bless us with a package that has lots of fun goodies in it as well. One other fun thing about the Currey Farm Maple Syrup, is that as soon as we saw it, Tony asked: “As in Jon Currey from Hope?” And, we visited their website only to find that it was indeed our classmate and his family from Hope who own and make this delicious Maple Syrup in Fowlerville, MI! If you guys need a Christmas gift idea for a loved one, I think that you should check out their website! OR, if you are planning a FALL wedding or event, they have these ADORABLE Leaf-shaped bottles of maple syrup for favors!

All that to say, Thank you Mom and Dad Conner and Mama and Papa Bordenkircher!! We love you guys and appreciate your thoughtfulness and support of us as we pursue God’s dreams for us in Southern California. Your packages seem to come at the perfect time when we need a little ‘pick me up.’

 

Unexpected moments.

Being a photographer (or the spouse of one), your eyes gravitate towards irony or the juxtaposition of two objects… and when you are not carrying a camera, you wonder why you even leave home without it! This past weekend, Tony and I had to pick up a couple items from Target and when we were leaving, Tony said: “Now there’s a picture!” I turned to look over my shoulder and outside of Target was this older woman (in her 70’s?) who was sitting against the wall, leaning over her walker, quite frail, smoking a cigarette, and drinking a frappucino. Part of me wanted to cry for this woman and the pain she must have been in… the other part of me wanted to laugh because here is this women really ‘living up’ her last few years on earth. It kind of spoke to me “Forget what the Dr. says, I am going to enjoy my cigs and frappucinos!”

Another moment like this occured when driving back from the Huntington Gardens with Amy and Luke. We were stopped at a stoplight, and I glance to my left and see this beautiful woman waiting for the bus. I debated for 20 seconds whether or not to take a picture because I want to always take portraits of strangers with the goal of dignity in mind. I am so thankful I took a ‘risk’ because I love how it turned out.

 

Children + Violin + Photography + USC vs. ND Football = A Perfect Saturday

Its no secret to you guys that I simply LOVE Saturdays… I love being around the apartment WITH Tony and whether we are cleaning, playing games, reading, watching football or enjoying our neighbors, we are guaranteed to have a good time. We had three hours of practice for the Fuller Vocal Ensemble yesterday. Yes, I am in a CHOIR! Haha… after 10 years since my last high school or church choir experience, I decided to audition for Fuller’s vocal ensemble since Tony was most likely going to be in it again this year and I truly miss my interaction with music. We have three weeks to learn a newly composed mass by Ed Wilmington, the composer in residence, here at Fuller. He is a brilliant musician and composer who is pulling out the music that God has created in his heart. Its really an extraordinary experience to be singing one note of many in a beautiful chord that is formed with 20 other people. Also, I witness the joy of Ed as he is hearing his piece sung all together by a choir for the first time. We are performing in a couple weeks a 60-70 page mass even though we have only been working on it for a few weeks so far!

We returned home from choir practice and I had Tony retrieve our television from our closet so I could watch the ND vs. USC football game while ‘putsing’ around the house. What an exciting first half!!! I was proud of the fighting Irish as they scored against USC’s defense. Also, we had some of our favorite friends under the age of 10 over to draw and color and laugh at me as I yelled at the TV! SeYun and SeJun are amazing artists and musicians. It was so fun to see SeYun bring out his violin as he is just beginning to learn how to play it at school and home. It brought back a ton of memories for me of the first few weeks I was learning the piano and flute. I remember feeling the satisfaction of finishing a 10 measure song that consisted of the same 3 notes played as a quarter note or whole note, and sometimes… an EIGHTH note. *GASP* I am excited to see SeYun grow as a musician in the next year and witness the JOY that that will bring to his life and the life of his community!

While his big brother was playing with his violin, SeJun found the infamous DUCK that Tony and his family have had in their home for years….

But, SeJun also wanted to play the violin. I have no doubt that he will also grow into a great musician when he is a little older!

These two guys have both a common passion and natural gift to draw. I am constantly impressed by the cartoons, superheroes, and landscape drawings these two create. I showed SeYun a quick picture of beautiful changing leaves on trees in the fall, and he replicated the image I had in my mind PERFECTLY. I was thrilled to add these pictures to my wall to remind that regardless of whether its 98 degrees or 60 degrees, it is fall.

After the first half of the ND vs. USC football game, I had to leave to do a fun engagement session with Amy and Luke. We headed out to Huntington Gardens where we retreated to the shade to save us from the 98 degree “fall” weather! I will be doing a full post on my photography website, but here is a sneak peak

Fortunately, my Mom and Dad, who were AT the ND vs. USC game in South Bend, Indiana yesterday, kept me posted via text messages of each score by the team. These are the texts I got:

20-7  USC

20-14 USC

27-14 USC

34-14 USC

34-20 USC

34-37 USC

1 second left.

ND on the 4 yd. line.

Last play

USC wins.

Thanks Dad for keeping me posted as I captured the intensely beautiful LOVE that Amy and Luke have for one another!! It definitely sounded like an exciting second half!!! If anyone taped it, let me know!

When I returned home, I was greeted by the laughter and running of the children here.

Tony and I enjoy moments like these in between the demands of work, school, and other commitments. Life really is about these  ‘inbetween’  moments.

 

You know you live on a highway when….

1. You can’t leave your bedroom windows open due to the black dust from car exhaust that gathers on your furniture.

2. You can check traffic before even getting ready for the day.

3. Technically, you could be employed by the police department and ‘clock’ people’s speed as they drive by.

4. You know when two drivers are upset with each other due to their yelling at the window.

5. You know what the fire department is up to at all times of day or night.

6. Your alarm clock is 7am rush hour.

7. It sounds like there is always a fan on in your bedroom/bathroom due to the constant hum of the highway.

8. You know that the only time a 14 lane highway slows down is between 3 and 4am, when you have ocassionally awoken from sleep to use the restroom.

9. You are reminded daily to pray for the safety of your spouse, friends, loved ones, and strangers as they travel to and from work, school, daily commitments.

10. You are one of the first photo-journalists on the scene when you wake up to a crash @ 5:45am to see out your bedroom window 8 police cars, 3 fire trucks, and 3 ambulances responding to a 3 car crash. You also are frustrated by the lack of follow-up by local news sources in letting you know if the people you saw rescued from an overturned car and moved onto an ambulance are okay.

(Sorry, about the picture quality – it was early and I was half asleep!)