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. =)

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.

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!

On Friday afternoon, Tony and I retreated from the city to spend a few days of holiday in Temecula. Temecula is known for its vineyards and wineries… but we have come to know it as a place of wide open spaces, beautiful scenery, and quaint bed and breakfasts. I can’t think of a better gift Tony could have given me then a weekend of time together away from demands, expectations, and a long list of “to do’s…”

We spent the first evening at the Hearts Home Bed and Breakfast which is a homestead that has been there for over 100 years… but the most recent owners renovated and restored these homes to have a 1920’s feel to it. We enjoyed our stay very much and were amused by some of the quirky, eccentric decor. =)

The next day we spent roaming around Temecula… we visited several different vineyards and even saw a ‘movie star’ at Wiens Family Winery. Gabrielle Union was a few feet over from us, and we decided not to bug her for a picture, although perhaps she wouldn’t have minded. We always wonder if it flatters or annoys famous people when asked for a picture or autograph. We agreed that if movie stars were really in love with just acting, they would’ve done theater… but they are probably in it for a little bit of the fame and would be excited they were successful enough to stand out to the ‘common folk.’ (That’s us!) Jenna VW, Gabrielle Union is your ‘girl’ from Love & Basketball and she’s in “Bring it On”… just fyi.

The second night we were there, we stayed at a VERY nice B & B called Inn @ Churon Valley. Tony got a great deal at this place and let me tell you… I have never stayed at such a beautiful B & B. I woke up to seeing the beautiful vineyards of Temecula out our glass doors next to our bed. It was breathtaking… and I definitely felt ’spoiled.’

We also explored old town Temecula which had  old and ‘trying to be old looking” buildings.     We even were able to find a candy store where I found some dark chocolate espresso beans and other chocolated covered candies.

All in all, it was a relaxing weekend with beauty all around us. It was so wonderful to spend an uninterrupted weekend together… and it made for the perfect 27th birthday celebration with my best friend and husband! Thank you Tony!!

Gotta love Burlap to Cashmere’s old song that I sang to in the 7th grade… thought it was an appropriate title for our blog after being ‘gone’ for a few weeks. I don’t have a lot of time now, but wanted to say that we are alive and well. =) I loved my intensive class “Poverty and Development” which included 3 hours/day of class in addition to my Marriage class and 25-30 hours/week of working. Tony has also been very busy with 18 hours at his counseling site and a very full quarter. I will go more in depth in the future with my summary of the Poverty class… but I must get some sleep… because tomorrow, Tony is taking me on a surprise birthday weekend trip to Temecula… which is wine country about 2 hours from Pasadena. Although my primary camera body decided to quit working on me, I will take my reliable rebel and hopefully have some images to post for you when we return to civilization. I am really looking forward to time with Tony… away from distractions and ‘to do’ lists and whatnot.

Below, are a few pictures I took when we went up to this park a few Saturdays ago for a picnic dinner. It was an absolutely gorgeous night as we sat on a hill over looking a baseball diamond and LA down below.

I didn’t have my tripod, but I thought I’d attempt to capture the moon… and evidence that sometimes, there ARE clouds in Southern California!! The first image is right out of the camera… the second is with a little more saturation of colors… and the third is a different look completely… which one is your favorite?

My favorite part about picnic dinners is sitting barefoot on a blanket with my husband as we enjoy a meal together.