Changes in 2010… The “Big Move.”
With the new year here…. it seems like the perfect time to finally merge my photography site with our personal adventures… so, if you are a frequent visitor of our site here… please exchange the christenandtony site for christenBphotography . This will make our lives a little simpler this next year…. AND, the pictures will be better displayed on the other site.
I apologize for the inconvenience… and I hope we don’t lose you in the “move”… but its time for a change. =)
We posted about our first experience at the Rose Bowl Parade…. so feel free to check it out. Also, I’d love comments from time to time on the other site to let us know that there are people checking in with us! Otherwise, it can feel like we are talking to ourselves… haha.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Our nephew “Baby J”
My brother Nate and sister-in-law Shanna named their baby boy… You can read about his name and the story of their family coming together here. He has a name… and my heart. Tony and I were doing a little Christmas shopping today and were in the baby section. I was like “Uncle Tony, what do you think of this for our nephew?” It just seemed right.
I probably won’t post a lot over the Christmas holiday now that we are home in Michigan and Indiana for Christmas. But, I will update our blog, once we get back to Pasadena, with pictures from the baby shower, a couple’s shoot, a wedding and other unexpected memories along the way. =)
i’m doing everything but…
working on my paper… you know… the 12 page research paper due Monday and the 10 page paper due by Friday…
I am currently dreaming up ideas for my sister-in-law’s baby shower… thinking about my brother and sister-in-law’s little one is way more exciting than citations and bibliographies and topic sentences.
Thanksgiving 2009 in Escondido, California (aka, the “Is this really MY life?” post)
There are many moments where I find myself longing for “home”… for “roots” and familiarity… for stability and community… And in conjunction with these moments, is a deep sense of gratitude for our present adventure… for uncertainty and INstability… for community where we are now… for Tony and I making our home together with God. Holidays heighten both this longing and awareness of home. Home is where we are… and yet, its a place we want to be. Its both. This Thanksgiving, with the celebration of news that Nate and Shanna received their adoption referral (I am going to be an aunt to a beautiful baby boy), and the ongoing tradition of foot massages and movie watching with my Mom’s side of the family and the fun of playing games with Tony’s family, we wanted to be “home” in one sense of the word… but logistically, it didn’t make sense OR cents. So, we stayed out here in California… I woke up on Thanksgiving morning and had that pang of sadness that we weren’t with our families…but before you feel sad for us – you have to know – that we were deeply blessed to share our Thanksgiving weekend with our sweet friends who we are in a housechurch/small group with. Our friends Andrew and Janneke invited us down for the long weekend to Andrew’s parents home in Escondido. We were so excited and had high hopes for this 4 day weekend away… and I have to admit, this weekend exceeded our expectations… We are so thankful for our brothers and sisters in Christ who we would never have met had we stayed in our comfortable sense of “home.” We ventured out… and found a passionate group of like-minded people who want to follow and love Jesus for the rest of their lives. We know that all of us are only here for a season before we are called to different parts of this world, but for this part of the journey, we can explore it together. And this Thanksgiving, we celebrated friendship, community, God’s love and faithfulness, and of course, food!
All weekend, we did quite of bit of relaxing, football-watching, napping, and eating… but we also added in a walk to the park, a drive to the ocean, a dinner in downtown San Diego, and lots of laughter and silliness. Honestly, I felt like I was at a resort all weekend as Escondido is surrounded by CLEAN air and gorgeous mountains. In the morning, I sat outside with the warm sun on my face, drinking my cup of coffee… and just ‘being still’ and remembering God. As I read the Psalms that declare God’s beauty in creation, I was looking at the very mountains that God created through His breath and can move with His command. And on this particular Thanksgiving morning, I was SO thankful for who God is in my life and the ways that He is at work. As we walked to the park and met a young woman Wendy with her 3 month old baby Ebony, I was reminded of God’s design of creating new life. And, as I watched friends play football as I sat under a tree with changing, yes changing leaves, I was reminded of what peace feels like and what joy looks like.
Yes… Tony and I are so thankful.
Our beautiful friends, Andrew and Janneke, who ministered to all of us through their gift of hospitality. Here they are over looking downtown San Diego and the harbor… the city they most likely will do ministry in after Fuller.
We watched our friends Andrew, Mikey and Josh surf from the rocky ledges of Point Loma. Did you know there is a college over looking this view that is called Point Loma Nazarene University?? Did you know people actually attend school at a place like this?? I think the high school guidance counselors should make sure that their students are aware of such places… =)
Standing before the ocean, we are reminded of how incredibly SMALL we are… and yet, we are so deeply loved by God that He would remember us…
Both Jeana (above) and Lauren (below) have incredible voices and write absolutely beautiful music. I hope their music will fill your home someday!
The infamous “turkey”
The signature of Janneke’s hospitality is in her details… she wrote out scripture verses that talk about giving thanks… and attached them to pears to be at each place setting!
Um… this may or may not have been the view from the house that we stayed in (after the sun set)… I don’t want to say for sure in case you get angry.
What is Thanksgiving without the Turkey-induced coma that happened for these friends less than 10 minutes after leaving the table???
My friends are such troopers as I have to snap a couple pictures of them every once in a while…
During our walk to the park, we found a few things:
swings.
an itty bitty puppy.
and eventually…back at the house… a chocolate pie!!
I have many more stories (and pictures) to share, but yet again, I have stayed up too late posting on our blog!! Happy Thanksgiving. Each of you bless our lives in more ways than you’ll ever know!
Goodnight friends and family!
