We went up to the apple orchards in Oak Glenn this weekend.  It was soooo cold and autumnish, I loved it!  Alana really enjoyed it despite her look in this picture.  We had a great time and it's our new fall tradition!  Any of you are welcome to join us next October!

The church hunt is over!

We found a church!  The pastor has been on vacation but we like what we see so far! The past churches we have tried were very traditional...hymns,pews, corporate reading from the KJV, the whole bit.  We were attracted by their involvement in missions so we had contemplated how much compromise in style might be required for us to be part of a church that has the same passion for the lost and hurting that we do.  But we also thought what if we took our neighbors or Justin's coworkers?  We felt that we we'd keep looking b/c that style is not so relevant to the unchurched of our generation.  Also the other churches we attended would never know that we were there, nor that we didn't come back and I thought about those who are searching for God (who might actually come within the 4 walls) and not just a church.  We really wanted a more relationally based church.  We had driven by a church called New Beginnings Family Church and wrote down the website.  This was kinda the last option that we had.  On their site (www.go2nbfc.org) they listed the 3 monthly outreaches they do and they also had a Saturday night service, which works better for Alana than Sunday morning.  We went and everyone was so welcoming and friendly.  The worship is intimate and the nursery and workers were fantastic.  After the service a guy invited Justin to the men's group.  He also sent Justin a text message later that week.  Justin went and really liked it.  They also have a Bible study for married couples.  We are very encouraged as it has been a lot longer road than we had planned to settle into a church!

Hate

Last night I sent out one of those forwarded email surveys.  I have gotten several responses which have all been entertaining but what I find most interesting is that only one person answered the question about hate.  (Shout out to Anna!)  It's good to hate!  May be that's whats wrong with our nation and even the church, we're all so afraid to hate.  There are certain things in this world that have absolutely no positive value.  Shouldn't we hate terrorism, injustice, abortion, divorce, abuse of any kind against a person or substance????  I think hate could possibly be the only emotion powerful enough to drive us to make a difference, to become an agent of change, a activist. May be if more people hated these things we would see less of them!  In that light I am changing my answer from hating my dogs (which I didn't really mean anyhow, they are just on my last nerve these days) to hating apathy!  But if you didn't answer that question, don't get me wrong, I am not calling you apathetic.  I'm just say'n I wish we hated evil a little more as a society!

Foreign land, the final post

Moving here has made me aware of a few things that I took for granted in AZ.  As much as I disliked the heat of Phoenix and love the weather here, there is something to be said for central climate control.  There have been several days, or even weeks that it got pretty hot here.  Our house has little if any insulation and just a little wall air conditioner.  It's not big enough to cool more than the living room so the bedrooms become saunas!  But I am so grateful that it was only a few weeks that got pretty uncomfortable and the weather is beautiful now and it's always been nice in the mornings and nights.  The hardest part was that Alana would wake up cuz she was hot and then wake up in the mornings b/c she is cold! I also miss my Maricopa County libraries!  We have 2 that I can use but they are not connected so if they don't have a book, you don't get it!  One of them is soooo rinky dink I have almost quit going b/c there have been 3 times that they have just been closed in the middle of the day!  Lastly, the residents of Phoenix metro are so spoiled with all the master planned communities!  Here there seems to have been no thought to the roads and shopping complexes.  It seems like every shopping center I try to enter there is no where to turn in.  So you go up to the next intersection to make a U-turn and, of course, U-turns are illegal at that intersection.  So you have to turn left go down another street to find somewhere else to turn around, it's just plain crazy!  So next time you are loathing the blistering heat of the valley, remember the little things that have intrinsic value!

Perfect example

This story sums up my last post perfectly! Justin just told me last night that he had to register for something at work.  In the questionnaire it asked his nationality and Caucasian/white was not even an option!  He had to mark "other"!

Foreign Land Part 2

I would say the biggest culture shock thus far is being a minority in a BIG way.  The area that we live in is about 85% Asian! (Then Hispanic, African American and about 4 % Caucasian!)  There is a street close to our house that for several miles all the signs are bilingual.  I'm not real sure what the specific nations of origin are represented but I think mostly Chinese and Korean.  I don't know how to tell but somehow they do.  The other day Alana and I were at the park and I saw a lady approach a complete stranger in her native tongue. I thought to myself how did she know that the other lady would understand her, she could have been from a different country??? But obviously there are differences in appearance that I cannot see!  I know from my overseas travel that waiting in lines is an American thing but it's funny to experience it here at home in America!  One day I was standing in line at Khols behind 3 other people, one being an older man holding a big heavy box.  A register opened and the cashier called the next in line and the Asian girl behind me helped herself to the opening!  The others were obviously distraught and I mentioned that we had better get used to the difference in culture eh? : )  Then last week I was at the MVD and the same thing happened.  I was second in line behind a young Asian girl and the Asian guy behind me jumped ahead of us both.  She turned and looked at me with this "what the heck?" look and I giggled to myself b/c even she noticed!  I must assume that she was born and schooled here therefore accustomed to lines whereas most that do the "cutting" are immigrants.  But please don't misunderstand, I love the diversity of our area!  Especially since Justin and I have always had a heart for Asia.  I would love to get involved in outreach to this people group!

A foreign land

Since being in California, we've faced several "culture shock" elements. So I thought I'd share them with ya'll to give you a window into our new life in SoCal. It will probably take several posts otherwirse this one would be way too long! First, let me being by saying that I am so glad we did not end up in the Inland Empire. Because it is similar weather to Phoenixut but it's UGLY, old and dirty. Our lil town is quaint and beautiful and the weather is wonderful. It has a community feel to it in the midst of the LA metro area. The one similarity however, is the overpopualtion. There is no just going somewhere real quick. The traffic around our house is not too bad most of the time but there are always lines and places are crowded. I think I've discovered the reason for the overpopulation. Our neighborhood dates back to 1930's. Our house is mostly all original but that will take me on a rabit trail so I'll save it for another post. Most lots though the original structure has been torn down and in it's place a set of condos or townhomes has been erected. In some cases, people will build a huge house and sometimes just remodel the original. Which makes for an interesting combo in one neighborhood. It's amkes our walks interesting because every house is different and each yard is unique. It seems like every month something new is in bloom. Alana and I take walks almost every morning and go explore the sights. But it's interesting to note that the power, water and lot that was originally for one family now has an average of 4 families! No wonder we have water and power shortages and it's so overpopulated!

A heavy heart

I kinda consider myself to be a news junkie.  Certain stories just suck me in, like the DC sniper a few years ago.  I must admit I got so obsessed that I remember filling my car with gas and the pump was on "auto".  As I stood there waiting I was thinking someone was standing just like I am now and lost their life.  At which point the pump clicked off and at that sound I jumped and almost hit the ground!  Similarly this last week I have been engrossed with the situation our country is in.  I watch day after day thinking "this cannot be happening in our country, how could it come to this".  I don't even think most Americans realize how dyer the current situation in our economy.  I told Justin one night, I feel like this is the end of the world.  Of course I was overreacting...may be! I have just been in shock and the only word that comes to mind as I watch the news is 'staggering'.

On a lighter note but just as serious.  Think about this crazy thought: it is possible for Barak Obama to have Biden resign and then select Hillary Clinton.  Justin and I were talking about this earlier this week and I thought he was insane!  It doesn't even seem like it could be legal. But the more I thought about it I see how it could happen.  And who knows after this week, anything is possible in America!

Parenting

Last night was one of the worst with Alana...a true nightmare!  She woke up after being alseep for a few hours and was crying sooooo hard she was inconsolable.  It was almost scary because she has never done that before.  It took both of us over 2 hours to get her back to sleep and we still don't know what the deal was!  As I was sitting there with her, totally clueless, I was thinking about what it's like to be a first time mom.  I thought it's like driving in a place you've never been before, you are lost and you spilled coffee on your map.  You just pray and hope you get there safe and on time or at least not too late.  For me, however, it feels a little more like driving in Europe, in a rented car at night and it's raining...on top of the above mentioned situation!  Hoping for a better night tonight!

Truck'n along

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've posted!  The truth is I just don't really have anything to write about!  Nothing too exciting going on here.  Just spending my days caring for Alana who is growing and developing so much!  We still haven't found a church but the hunt is on and I am really wanting to meet some people here.  I found out last night that my dear friend, Anna, is coming out to visit me.  I am so excited, I'm just beside myself!  

I typically consider myself a pretty bright person.  If I want to know something I do whatever it takes to figure it out.  However, when it comes to blogs I feel like such a tard!  I tried Xanga for a while to keep in touch with all my friends from TM.  I never could figure out how to post pics (part of the problem is that I have a Mac) so my good friend Logan enabled me and posted them for me!  The other problem is I just don't have the time, mostly b/c I don't make it a priority.  Where do people find the time?  Not to mention having mutiples like facebook, myspace and a blog???? It just seems like you can get sucked in and next thing you know it's been hours just checking up on people's lives.  That in itself is not bad but it just seems so impersonal to me.  All these people can read about me and I don't even know about it...kinda creeps me out.  When we were in AZ many of my dearest friends were many states away.  Now that all of my friends are long distance I am throwing in the towel.  I must become a blogger b/c it just seems impossible to keep in touch with everyone personally!  Don't expect me to pour out my deepest thoughts, if you know me in the slightest you'll know that that's not gonna happen online!  But hopefully I can keep up with whats going on in our life and stay up with whats going on in yours!

Here are the pictures of Alana devouring her birthday cake. The first picture is her reation when we showed her the cake. I don't really even know how she knew what it was. We got her a little 4 inch cake of her own. (Which is orange b/c the only little cake the grocery store bakery had was Nascar! So we took off the decals) At first when we put it in front of her she didn't know what to do...or she was in shock that I was actually going to let her eat chocolate cake! But she caught on quickly and dug in! I was hoping that most of it was falling under the tray but when I looked I discovered that she knew this was a precious commodity and not to waste it. : ) She liked to squish it between her fingers before she put it in her mouth. Within minutes the sugar set in and she got gitty. It was soooo cute! When Justin tried to take the tray this was her reaction!

Birthday pictures

Beach baby!

Mia (which is my mom's grandma name!) came out for Alana's first birthday.  She stayed with us for a few days and then I went down to San Diego with her.  Justin had to stay home and work. : (  But we took Alana to the beach.  She absolutely loved it!  She loved the waves and the sand.  The water was warm for a California beach (compared to Hawaii) so we had a great time.  It took her about 30 minutes before she ate sand.  I wiped her mouth off with sea water and then she stuck her tongue out as far as she could to like the salty water!  We live about 37 miles from Santa Monica so we will be going real soon as a family!  (I will post pictures of Alana devouring her cake in a few days!)

Wildlife

We have quite a few little creature around here.  We had heard about the wild parrots that live in the Pasadena area a few weeks ago.  Low and behold a few days later we had 4 wild green parrots perch on the power lines that run across our back fence.  We also have squirrels run across from time to time.  Also there are possums that come around.  We had them show up a few weeks ago but Candy our beloved neighbor dog that I just wrote about scared them away!  I much prefer this wildlife to the pigeon infestation we had at the last house!  Although I have noticed that there are a lot more flies and bugs here.  I'm sure it has to do with all the mature vegitation!

Our nosey neighbor!

Candy is the dog that lives over the back fence.  She actually used to to live in our house but when the people moved they couldn't take her.  Therefore she  likes to be nosey and has figured out how to jump up and rest on the top of the block wall which is only about 5 feet tall.  As you can imagine this has been interesting with our 2 little yappers.  They are getting used to each other now but we have to spray Candy with the hose when she growls at Gidget.  This has cut down quite a bit on her peeping over!  

Our official welcoming to beautiful SoCal!

WOW!  Or should I saw WHOAAAAAA!  I just experienced my first earthquake!  I was changing Alana's diaper and all of a sudden the ground started moving and I heard a rumbling.  At first I thought it was the biggest jet flying over the house. I ran out to the living room to see what the heck was going on.  I saw the measuring cups that are hanging by the stove swaying and the pantry door swung open.  I very quickly realized that it was an earthquake.  It was pretty scary!  Of course the phone lines are all tied up so I can't get in touch with Justin.  Good thing the 11 am news is on and I went to it just to make sure that I'm not crazy!  Turns out it was a 5.4 magnitude.  There have been 3 aftershocks so far but I haven't felt any of them.

Here are the pictures of our lil house.  It's 1100 square feet and it's just perfect for us!  We have a nice big back yard.  It's like living in a fruit market...we have pomegranate, lime, grapefruit, lemon and kumquat trees on the property that are just LOADED with fruit.  Our neighbor across the back fence has apple and orange trees that she said we could help ourselves to!  

We are getting settled slowly but surely!  Go figure that our second week here we had a "record breaking" heat wave.  To top it off our air conditioner, that is a 30 year old lil wall unit, made the outlet it was plugged into smoke.  I am grateful b/c if we had drywall (instead we have plaster) the house probably would have caught fire!  So in the middle of the heat wave we were without air for 3 days!  Welcome to Cali!  But the owner put a new unit in (plugged into a different outlet) and we are waiting for an electrician to come out and diagnose the problem.  

Justin is liking his job.  He got an real life view of an L.A. standoff last week!  He works in one of the few sky-rises in old town Pasadena.  From his window he got to watch a standoff take place with tons of cop cars and the whole street blocked off.  We never did figure out exactly what happened but it was exciting for him...he loves that kind of stuff!  He said it was so cool and just like TV!

We have arrived in Monrovia, CA and are getting settled into our home.  We are loving this area!  It's weird that neither one of us know where anything is, thank God for the internet!  It makes it that much more of an adventure!  We are finally to the point where we are not tripping over boxes...YEAH!  I like living in a smaller space.  It has taken quite a bit of elbow grease to scrub this little place down!  But the house is charming!  Justin is liking his new job.  He is home by 4:30 everyday!  Alana is getting adjusted to all the change.  She hasn't slept through the night yet but I'm guessing it will take a while for her feel totally comfortable!  Love and miss you all!