Breathe.

Alright, well it’s been like a week since I last wrote.  It turns out that God keeps taking care of all these crazy situations in my life.  Or is using them for stuff.  I don’t know.  I’m not good at explaining it always.  But basically, stuff happens and it’s all from Him and it’s awesome.  Even when it’s not awesome.  So let’s see… what have I actually been up to lately?

I didn’t do a ton last weekend.  I hung out with some friends, went to church, continued working out every day, and went to the Zoe Church Baptisms.  Some of my good friends were baptized, and it was beautiful.  I also went on a misadventure to Whole Foods (the closest of which is shockingly far from San Clemente).  After getting distracted from my plan to go there and then having issues finding it, I got there 15 minutes before they closed, instead of the 90 minutes I had planned, which I was going to use for lots of browsing and reading of signs and labels.  Oh, well.  At least I now know where it is and will be back again some time in the near future.

This week, I started my swimming (or technically I believe it’s called aquatic conditioning) class.  At 6am.  This is insane for the girl who stays up all night and likes to sleep in!  Technically I’m only required to be there on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  The coach (that seems like a better term than teacher or professor somehow) wants us there on Mondays and Wednesdays, as well, if possible.  He says that’s the best way to get better.  And I want to get better.  So I’ve been up outrageously early and I’m still adjusting to the schedule, but I survived week one.  :)

In a wonderful treat, Roderick cooked dinner for me at the boys (Nate, Hanssel, and Chris) Tuesday night.  Delicious!  I do love our Tuesday night family dinners.

And so that’s a lot of the stuff.  Things are good and crazy and everything.  More soon.

Shot.

Oh, goodness.  The new year has gotten off to quite a start, I would say.  It has been a time of (re?)evaluation and thinking and prayer.  It’s brought me some good insight, though, and the Lord’s work continues to be really apparent.  At a moment when I was totally freaked out about my life here in Orange County, He beautifully lined up people I love literally right in front of me.  Amazing, really.

And there have been other good developments, as well.  I’ve been working out a lot.  Currently, my body is pretty sore, but I take that as good news.  I need this.  Swimming starts next week.  I’m nervous about it, to be quite honest, but I’m also excited to be back in a pool again.  I just hope my body doesn’t just completely give up on me when I wake it up at 5:30am.  We’ll see.  And I’m back to running, too.  I’m out of shape but trying not to be discouraged about it.  I’ll get stronger.  I know I’m capable because I’ve done it before.  Oh, and Marke and I have been taking walks at lunchtime.  The weather here is gorgeous, so it’s been lovely to get outside and enjoy it.

It’s good to be back at work, but more than that, it’s good to be back in church.  I missed it a lot when I was away for Christmas.  And I get to add back in Wednesday nights, which are so good.  By the way, I aced the Architecture History course I took at Saddleback last semester.

So anyway, that’s sort of been what’s up.  More soon enough.

Anew.

It seems appropriate to be posting on the first of the year.  Yeah, that means I buy into the social construct of a calendar or whatever.  I figure it’s as good a day as any to go ahead and reflect back on the past 365 days and explain a bit about the next set.

The past year was spectacular.  It was up and down left and right and every direction in between, and I loved it.  It was madness.  But ultimately, I grew a lot, learned so much, and added some awesome people to my life.  What more could a girl want out of a year?  I’m thoroughly, thoroughly grateful.  Praise Jesus for all He’s seen me through.

And then there’s 2010.  I’m looking forward to more.  I’m not sure exactly what that means, but I’m hoping it will include traveling to some new places (Arizona? European countries?), adding some things to my life (like morning swims), and enjoying lots of time with family and friends.

There are some goals for the new year.  I’m not sure I’m ready to post very specific things about them yet, but for now I’ll let you know I’ll be working out a lot, continuing to learn about food, and doing lots of organizing in my life.  Productive things.

So anyway, I’m still here.  Maybe I’ll keep this thing updated more often.  We’ll see… :)

Dining.

Alright, everyone, this girl’s doing things that surprise other people.  And herself somtimes, too. :)

I’m going camping.  For a week.  With the Hallowell family.  So it’ll be Marke, John (Marke’s dad), Kathie (Marke’s mom), and Allison.  Plus one more couple from church.  We’re going out to the Sierras, and it should be gorgeous and relaxing and wonderful.  I’ll be back in a week.  :)

In other news, I’ve been keeping quite busy.  First of all, work’s been insane as I’ve prepared to take an entire week off.  But everything got wrapped up by the end of the day today, so I’m all set.

Wednesday I had a chill night to myself really.  I had dinner (and dessert!) out, and then I got started with the packing and prepping for this camping trip.

Last night, I hung out with Nate a bit and then went to Emmaus.  And then to Corky’s.  For hours and hours.  And then Lauren came home with me and spent the night here because she’s spending the weekend with various friends in this area.  And we went to bed at like 4am.  So I’m now operating on very, very little sleep after a crazy busy week.  But that’s alright because I can make it all up very soon!

And tonight after work, I met up with Lauren, Danny, and Nate.  I found myself some coffee.  Awesome.  Very good news.  Anyway, then I hung out with Nate a bit.  We shopped (for him, not me) and went out for sushi.  Okay, he wanted sushi, but I tried some of it and it was good!  My foodventures continue. :)  Anyway, we had a really, really delicious Japanese dinner, and it was cool to just hang out a bit.  We even made a Costco run.  Anyhow, then I headed home early.  I’ve been cleaning and packing and such; now I’m all set to go away for a week.

So yeah, I should probably get to bed in the very near future.  I’ll be back after the trip! :)

Replace.

Today was great.  I wanted to let you know. :)

Work’s busy, but that’s alright.  Slowly but surely, I’m checking things off my long to-do list.

Just before lunch time two things happened simultaneously:
1) Marke bailed on our lunch plans together because he needed to take care of something.
2) Chris texted me and wanted to have lunch today.
So I had a really fun lunch with Chris!  So much fun!  I always think we don’t see enough of each other.

This evening, Chris came over.  He was tonight’s volunteer family dinner chef.  Once Roderick and Nate arrived, we all went to the grocery store for the food.  Chris decided on fajitas!  :)  Michael, Marke, Allison, and Grace joined us for dinner, as well.  Chris did a great job cooking, and the meal turned out perfectly.  And then I threw together some cookies for dessert, which were quite delicious with a scoop of ice cream.  The boys helped do all the dishes, and Michael even helped me hang up a picture that I’ve been meaning to hang since I moved here 15 months ago.  It was a great evening here, and I’m so thankful for my dear friends who bless me with their presence each Tuesday night and make this place really, really feel like home.

Also, I put a few new photos up on flickr. :)

Islands.

Work has been pretty hectic–especially with me preparing to be gone for a whole week–but at least I found time to read James and Hebrews when I was waiting on something or bored or just in need of a break.  :)

Friday night was one of those mellow evenings that I ended up enjoying.  It started with me washing my car, which I enjoy more than normal people, I think.  It’s just the being outside, doing something physical after a day in the office.  Anyway, then I headed down to the beach for a mellow bonfire with some friends.  And then dessert at Velvet Yogurt.  And then on to Denny’s.  It was just a quiet evening around San Clemente with friends, and I enjoyed it.

On Saturday, I arranged to meet up with Lauren at JC Bean (a local coffeeshop we frequent) mid-day.  When I arrived, I spotted Nate’s car in the parking lot.  He happened to be going there, too, so the three of us hung out a bit and went over to Thai This for some delicious lunch.  And then Lauren and I hit the beach, where we ran into Eric, Eric’s sister Janelle, and her boyfriend Jake.  They just happened to be there and like 20 yards away from where Lauren and I were.  So anyway, we hung out with them for a while.

In the evening, I went over to Annamarie’s, where Lauren used to live also, for a party.  I had so much fun listening to her friends (and my friends joined in, too!) play island music in the backyard.  I was totally transported all the way to Hawaii without having to endure the long plane ride, and I got to bring all my friends, too!  It was great!

And then Nate, Megan, Lauren, Danny, and I went to see “District 9,” which I totally recommend.  Definitely more than just an alien movie.  Really, really good.  And a great end to a nice Saturday.

Yesterday, I went to church, had an awesome lunch with friends at Baja Fish, and ran some errands.  And then I threw an impromptu BBQ in the park behind my apartments.  A bunch of people came, the guys took care of the BBQing, and we hung out.  It was really fun!  I love that little park.  It’s gorgeous, and there are rarely people there.  Lots of good memories there, for sure.  And then a few people came over to watch “Good Will Hunting,” one of my very favorite movies.  Nate had never seen it before; it was time.

And I’m working on making sure I’m ready to go camping on Saturday.  Checking things off my list of stuff I need to make sure I have.  This is different from preparing for the sort of traveling or vacationing I normally do.  But I’m excited to go, for sure.  Oh, and it was a good excuse to pick up a couple pairs of new jeans, which I honestly needed pretty badly.  :)

That’s it from here tonight.  More soon…

Mercy.

Well, I’ve been keeping myself fairly busy.  Haha!  Highlights…

I took last Wednesday off (amazing, I know!), and Nate and I hung out.  We had a really good lunch at Corner Bakery.  Why don’t I go there more often?  Their salads are amazing.  Anyway, then we headed up to LA to see a taping of the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.  That was the day I happened to get tickets for, so we went.  Anyway, we cut it super close with the traffic and madness of just driving in LA, and we were even dreaming up all the other LA things we could do if we didn’t make it to the studio by 3:30.  But we made it just barely.  So we spent the afternoon waiting in line and then being led through aiport-like security to get into the studio where they film.  And then we watched them film the whole show for the night, which was really fun and sort of silly.  I mean, to really see how taken care of celebrities are is crazy, but not that suprising.  Anyway, it was a fun thing to do.  Then we grabbed some dinner before making the drive back that night.  And actually, we kind of hung out the rest of the evening, eventually meeting up with some more friends.  Anyway, it was an awesome day off.  :)

On Friday, there was a lot more of me being a slacker at work. ;)  I took off around noon, made a quick change, and then met up with Nate, Lauren, and Lauren’s friend Danny.  We all headed up to LA (yes, twice in three days).  We wandered around the Walt Disney Concert Hall (on the outside), which is a really interesting, beautiful building.  And then we walked over to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels, which is another architecutural gem.  Anyway, we explored there a bit.  Nate started talking to a man trying to fix the enormous organ there, and all of a sudden he was helping him fix it (with careful instruction) and scoring us all a trip up into the pipes.  Seriously cool!  And Nate got to to way, way up into the pipes (6 stories).  Anyway, it wasn’t what any of us expected when we visited the church, but it was really fun.  Next up, we met up with Ramie, Megan, and Annamarie, and tried to have dinner at CPK but failed.  So we found a really great Italian restaurant a few blocks away, which turned out to provide us with a pretty awesome meal.  I’m so glad. :)  And finally, we went to a concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  We saw the choral music of Eric Whitacre as performed by the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain.  A huge group of us went to this.  Anyway, the music was stunning.  Just incredible.  I definitely want to spend more time taking in the arts.  Anyway, after a long day in LA, we headed back towards home, stopping at In-N-Out for a late-night snack.

Oh, so Lauren came to stay with me for a few days.  We spent Saturday together hanging out in Laguna Beach and then in Dana Point at Strands with some more friends.  Yes, we’re at Strands beach all the time.  Yes, I love that I have a usual beach.  Anyway, it was a fun day, and then in the evening, we went to Oral History Night with the Emmaus crew.  Hanssel told his life story, and it was awesome.  And somehow I ended up talking outside with friends for hours and hours into the middle of the night.  Good fun. :)

Sunday was another jam-packed day.  Church.  Beach birthday party for Brielle, who turned 1.  She’s the daughter of our friends James and Megan.  And then headed up to Annajoy’s house in the mountains for an evening BBQ.  The highlight was probably the crazy ride there and back in Nate’s car.  Oh, boys and their cars. ;)  Actually, it was also fun to have a mellow evening with friends in a beautiful location.

And things since have been pretty normal.  Quiet evenings Monday and tonight, though I did get some cleaning and writing and reading and other chores done.  Last night’s family dinner was delicious and cheap; I made pizzas and salad, and we went out for dessert at Velvet Yogurt. :)

Anyway, enough out of me.  Busy busy and gearing up for travel. :)

I Remember Now.

This is not the post you’re likely expecting.  Well I mean, it’s the post I promised.  It’s just probably not the news you were suspecting.  Unless, of course, I’ve already told you about this, though that doesn’t apply to many.

I was at the beach two weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon with a bunch of friends.  The surf had been huge for the past couple of days because of a storm in Tahiti about a week prior.  Whatever, this is not especially relevant to anything.  I swam in the waves for a while with friends, but mostly I lazed around on a towel on the hot sand.  Later in the day, I tried swimming again when Megan, Roderick, and Nate were going in.  Too much surf.  It wasn’t fun; it was work.  I went straight back to my towel after swimming through just a few waves.

Then Michael talked to Ben while looking at the horizon.  And then spoke to the lifeguard whose tower we were right next to.  And I observed.  And while Megan and I were standing talking about the huge waves, the lifeguard put down his binoculars and picked up his rescue gear.  He sprinted down the beach.  And Michael followed down the beach.  I grew especially concerned.  The ocean is dangerous, and my friends were two of those teeny, tiny heads I could see in the water way, way, way down the beach.  But which two?

Megan and I walked down the beach.  A long ways.  And we eventually realized we were indeed approaching a rescue.   We spotted Ben in the small crowd gathered around someone lying on the beach, and our pace quickened immediately.  Roderick.

We approached the chaotic scene and saw Roderick lying unconscious on the beach, surrounded by lifeguards and a few friends.  Nate stood at his feet cooperating with the lifeguards, trying desperately to help in any possible way and dripping wet.  Tip him to the side while he tries to cough up some of the Pacific.  Pray.  And then he came to suddenly.  Coughing and confusion and a sernse of relief.  Megan and I prayed together while the paramedics checked him out.  And then we rejoined the small crowd around Roderick.

The lifeguards frustratingly asked everyone not related to the patient to take a few big steps back.  No one moved.  We’re his family.  We’re all with him.  We stood there, a mismatched crew of soldiers, shoulder-to-shoulder and unwavering in our commitment to Roderick.  Brothers and sisters in the blood of Christ.

The paramedics finished treating Roderick on the beach and decided to take him to the hospital for more treatment.  We gathered our belongings and followed.  Nate.  Hanssel.  Michael.  Jesse.  Amy.  Dan.  Megan.  Ben.  Kirsten.  Roderick’s family.  We all stood outside the hospital waiting for someone to let us see Roderick.  One at a time in the ER.  Nate went first, and he came out with a look I wasn’t expecting.  And then slowly, each person had their turn.  Some repeated.  I waited and waited and prayed and waited and got news from my friends and from a doctor and tried to piece together what was going on.  He was alive but with some water in his lungs and some memory loss.  And then more memory loss.

Eventually it got really late, and I left to find some food with Nate and Lauren.  And Nate and I went back to the hospital, making our way through the maze of hallways to the room where Roderick had been moved to.  He remembered who I was, and he was quite excited about it.  We spent some time together in that hospital room talking.   Roderick couldn’t remember a lot of his life.  But we were there, bonded through the whole experience, intentionally brought through a crazy experience together for a purpose higher than ourselves.

It’s incredible to watch how things have played out since this evening.  The Lord set us all up, and now He’s just working through and with each of us, changing lives and relationships and everything.  The bonds are stronger.  Lives are taken more seriously.  We’re consciously caring for each other.  And the effects are being felt beyond the small church group of us.

There are more details to what happened that day on the beach, but I don’t tell the story as well as Nate.  He was there, and he rescued Roderick (and himself) in a crazy fashion, along with a couple other swimmers.  They just got caught in the extremely strong riptide there.  Roderick was in the hospital for two days before moving in with Grandma Renie (Jamie and Jessica’s grandma and Bridget’s mom).  He’s getting his memories back slowly but surely, kind of like in a cheezy movie.

So I think that’s basically the story.  Things are just different now.  God does amazing things, answers prayers, and scares us.  It’s incredible and I’m beyond thankful for all that He’s doing in me and in my (church) family.  I’ll keep you posted on how things progress.

Shoulders.

Well, I’ve kicked off a new year of life.  It’s been spectacular.  I’ll try to get through the highlights for you. :)

I had an absolutely amazing birthday day.  Nate and I just hung around San Clemente (I took the day off work).  Seriously, we just hung out and it was wonderful.  And then he took me to the airport and it was a rad carride because he sang the whole way.  I met Adam there and we missed our flight but flew to Oakland on a later flight.  There was pizza from Amici’s, just like I’d wanted, and Kath and Mel came to the house and hung out.  And my parents were there, too.  And it was just an awesome birthday all the way around.

On that Saturday, the family came over for a big birthday party, like we do most years.  It was really nice to see everyone, and I enjoyed it immensely.  And then Dad, Adam, Katherine, and I went up to the City to AT&T Park to see Kenny Chesney in concert.  It was a massive concert!  Lady Antebellum and Miranda Lambert opened, and they were both great.  And then Kenny was so much fun.  He kept the thousands and thousands totally involved even in that huge place.  So fun and a great birthday present from Uncle Ken. :)

On Sunday, I got to hang out with the fam.  We had a wonderful breakfast in Woodside.  And then I lunched with Meg and Kath on Meg’s break before Kath took me out for Sprinkles cupcakes.  What a great little weekend at home!

Adam and I flew back to Long Beach, where I was greeted by Nate and Roderick.  They even came inside, and I love that.  We headed down to San Clemente for some frozen yogurt, a walk to the pier, and a movie at my house.  What a great welcome back home. :)

I had a birthday dinner her with frineds.  I kept it all super casual and just told a few people that we’d gather at Stuft Pizza.  And between work and dinner, Nate and I made a Sprinkles run.  I’m sure he thought it was absolutely ridiculous and he’ll never do that with me again (unless maybe it’s my birthday), but it was fun.  Anyway, we got the pizza place and more and more friends just kept showing up until we had taken over a section of the restaurant.  We ate and hung out and had a great time together.  And then some of us came back to my house for cupcakes.  It was just a wonderful blessing to have so many come celebrate with me. :)  I’m so thankful!

I’ve been going to the beach with friends a lot.  A lot a lot.  It’s so easy to do that here and the beaches and the weather are so gorgeous that I can’t really help myself. :)

Lauren moved back to Santa Barbara before she moves to London in September.  I miss having her around all the time, but I’m excited she’ll be visiting this weekend and we have fun things planned.  And we got to celebrate her birthday with her before she left, too, so that was cool.

And then there’s this one other really big thing.  I’m not sure how to explain all of it here and do it justice.  It’s been life changing.  I’m still working on it, though.  More soon…

Good day.

The news remains the same: I am a busy girl.  :)

Work’s busy.  The entire company is in the office this week for our annual meetings.  So yeah, that’s the story from there.  Let’s get on to what else I’ve been up to, what else interesting is going on.

Friday I got to hang out with Nate some before going to a birthday bonfire at the beach in celebration of Hanssel’s birthday.  Totally chill.  Good time.

Saturday, Marke and I went for a really great hike in the hills above Laguna Beach.  I’m loving our hikes more and more.  And then I got cleaned up and hung out with Nate for the rest of the evening.  We had a night full of random, quiet activities, including dinner, browsing the bookstore, going to the market, drinking coffee, driving to Laguna and having an odd walk around, listening to jazz, and watching “V for Vendetta.”  We just hung out.

Sunday was a cool day.  Church.  Breakfast at lunchtime.  Phone calls from coffeeshops.

And then the main event.  Sunday was the day Nate and I had set aside to do the big birthday celebrating for him. The first stop was the Nordstrom Rack, where we looked for new shirts but ended up with new shoes instead.  He loves them.  They’re really nice.  Oh, boys.  And then we went to the Orange County Performing Arts Center to see the stage production of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”  We both loved the movie as kids, and I saw the stage show 6 years ago when I lived in London.  Well anyway, we both really loved it.  Nate’s head might have exploded though, as he’d never been to the theatre before.  Or heard a live orchestra play.  Or anything like that.  So anyway, that whole thing was just amazing.  And then we had dinner at Maggiano’s, which was perfect.  Love that place.  Awesome dinner.  :)

Monday I went to my regular women’s Bible study and then went over to Nate’s.  We went for a run.  He kind of kicked my butt, but I ran the whole way, so I’m stoked on that.  :)

Last night’s Tuesday Night Family Dinner was a small affair, being just Roderick, Chris, and me.  But we had a great dinner and talked lots and lots and had a good time.  It was just what I needed after a long, long day, I’m sure.

And tonight, I worked late (so I can take Friday off).  And then I met up with Nate for a late dinner (which was actually breakfast) at Corky’s.  And it’s just been a good day.  And that’s about it.

My 26th year is quickly wrapping itself up, and I’m looking forward to my trip home this weekend. :)  More soon…