Troy & Trisha

2010!

2011-01-17T12:19:00.000-08:00

I have decided it is time to update our blog! Troy and I have had much happening and many changes that are significant for us and I want to attempt to keep our friends and family in the loop on our life. Here are some pics from our year to give you a quick overview!

Troy playing on Yahoo! with Brooke

horseback riding!

Dad & I with giant burritos! We ate them all!

After Thanksgiving walk in the cold cold evening air!

Thanksgiving dinner with my family!

Youth All-Nighter

Making new stuff out of old stuff!

Troy on the Brooke Fraser Tour

The Oregon/USC game!

Troy's Birthday Hang

At the Dodger Game with the Dolittles

The girls grilling hot dogs at the westside shelter

Kyle & Christina with cute Addison

Me & Campbell- I love her smile!

Troy & Jeff at Deschutes Brewery

Mountains of Central Oregon

Gilma & Jerry with their new little boy Noah

Ty & Genny- newly married

Below are pics from the wedding...

That's our 'I just farted' face!

Meg & I at Genny's bachelorette party

Some of my favorite female pastoras!

September...

2009-09-18T17:11:00.000-07:00

Troy and I started this new thing we call adventure Mondays! We both have Monday's off so we decided that we need to 'be young and have fun' (as Troy says) and explore SoCal a bit more. Some days are more chill than others. On one of our more exploratory trips was down to Long Beach- we found electric boats and decided we needed to invite friends and have a party! Below are our pics from the party that followed.

Good times on the Electric boats! We got to captain our own but they only went 5mph. The picture above doesn't begin to capture how pretty that evening was.

New friends of ours- Samantha and Dan. They both just moved to Pasadena to be a part of serving in ministry here.

Brent & Danielle with Troy

Our friend and neighbor Gilma. She is getting married soon and asked me to help her prepare for the big event!

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Our front porch. This is where I like to sit and read and say hi to the people who pass by.

Troy and I in his studio - the headphones were just for effect.

The men - Dan, Troy and Brent. I never see guys sitting 3 on a couch- I think this is why their arms are crossed.

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Below are wedding pictures from this weekend. We went to a beautiful wedding of a good friend of ours- Troy was a groomsmen.

Check out the menu- 8 courses! It was super good and FANCY!

There was a full band that played throughout a good portion of the reception. Troy is on keys here.

Us with the bride and groom (Stephanie & Andrew). She had a few dress changes and this is at 11pm - they were still going strong and Troy and I were about ready to fall over! It was a very fun and very long day.

Our Road Trip to Oregon!

2009-08-21T00:43:00.001-07:00

Garden Veggies Gone Crazy!

2009-07-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

I thought my garden was doing well here. But look at it now! This is amazing! I did not expect it to do so well and produce as much food as it has already! If you want any zucchini bread let me know- I am quickly becoming an expert with finding new ways to use all this food. My new favorite thing is to give it away to neighbors and friends. I think I could take care of the veggie needs of the 6 homes on our little street! well, almost. :)

Beside me are green beans and snap peas which are almost as out of control as the zucchini on the other side of me.

I have a new appreciation for sunflowers! They are so beautiful, they cover the ugly fence behind them (making it look kind of artsy in the pic, I think), and they grow like weeds!

Here is a more full picture of what's happening . In the foreground are potatoes and carrots which have been experimental. Behind them in the same row are bell peppers and behind that are my bean poles. The other set contain cucumber, tomatoes, yellow squash and zucchini. And to be over the top I planted pumpkins in the very back which take over the rest of the ground by the sunflowers.

Food of the day. I pick about this much every few days. If you have any good recipes I would be happy to try them. This is my first garden ever and it has been a fun hobby. At the same time I am still fascinated that all you have to do is stick a seed in the ground and water it and you have something to eat. I think I am going to help people start gardens in my area so they can save some money and have some good food too- maybe we will have a community garden one day! I love that idea!

July Photos

2009-07-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

The last month has had some serious fire pit time. No it is not environmentally friendly. However, it does make Troy very happy to be able to burn stuff! I just figure I have to plant more trees and keep composting to even it out. Below is one of our latest fire pit parties! We BBQd for the 4th of July and then went to see fireworks at the Rose Bowl.

Ty & Genny with us after the fireworks. Our friend Sherman was in town- he is obviously the deep thinker in the group. :)

So photogenic we are!

This pic was on 7-11 free slurpee day! We did a picture scavenger hunt with the youth at our church and then hit 7-11 to refuel.

Our youth work day. We are cleaning and designing a room for the youth to call their own. Apparently only the youth worked.

My Garden!

2009-06-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

I have been all pumped to have a garden this year. Troy thinks that I am becoming a hippie. What can I say, growing plants and hanging my clothes on the line makes me happy! I have picked 6 zucchini's in the last week and I am about to learn how to make some bread. We are going to have veggies comin' out our ears soon- I am so excited!

We made a little video the other night and I just made it small enough to load. Hope you enjoy it!

Life in Photos!

2009-06-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

Since we have not posted in a while I figured I would show some of the fun happenings of our life in random order. We have been keeping busy over the last several months! Enjoy the photos!

Lesley after the wedding! She was so excited yet so calm through the whole day! And she looked so beautiful! We are so happy for her and our new brother Ryan! It was a day to celebrate!

Lesley and Ryan after the wedding. Wahoo! Time to get to Disneyworld!

Our niece Campbell with Grandpa H and her Daddy, Jeff. She is so beautiful! They were communicating via gurgle. (By the way, Sarah- we have video of this for you guys!)

Troy and Campbell jammed on the piano! She is totally going to be in the family band!

Tyson graduated from Cal State Fullerton with his Masters in Athletic Training! We are so excited for him and looking forward to his investment in the 'Troy Welstad investment fund for Athletic Trainers'!

What a happy family!

Me and some friends from church went to Lake Arrowhead for the weekend. It was relaxing and we were serious nature lovers- which made me miss Oregon (of course).

A unicorn snowshoeing under the moon!

Troy and I stayed with some friends at a beach house and this picture was in our room. I think it's in the top 5 weirdest art pieces I have ever seen!

Hangin' out at our good friend Wendy's wedding!

Tyson and Maddie being cute at the beach!

Troy and I on our mini-moon! Our anniversary was in March so we went camping in Santa Barbara for the night.

Troy setting up the camp fire on our trip to Santa Barbara! He has since decided that we need to have a fire pit- bringing the wilderness camp fire to our backyard!...And giving him the opportunity to be a pyro while hanging out with our friends. :)

Wendy and Bryan on their wedding day! So fun to celebrate with them!

My thoughts for Today

2009-02-20T19:22:00.000-08:00

I have been reading a great book lately called, 'The Tangible Kingdom'. It has really made me process what I do for work and what God is asking me to do with my life. I continue to spend a lot of time with my neighbors. It really takes a lot of time and effort and trust and love to get out of my comfortable space. But I REALLY want my neighbors to know Jesus- to have hope in their life, to know they have value, to know they are not alone in their journey.

A few days ago my boss came back from Sudan. He told me that they are so hungry for God there- they have nothing and they just sat and listened to him teach for hours. Then they would not leave because they wanted more. There is that same need for God here and I want Him to awaken my friends to it. So, I am attempting to join God in what He's doing right outside my house. Today I spent time with one of my neighbors who is getting married. She invited me to go look at churches with her- which I was happy to do. Later, I went to another neighbors to visit with her and she was so excited that I came. She speaks little English so she is excited that I would be willing to come help her practice. And now she wants me to learn Chinese and go with her to Taiwan. :0

Troy is in Virginia doing a recording for a few days. I love my musician husband!

A long break...

2009-01-29T23:49:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened since our last post to the blog. Rather than fill in all the detials we threw up some pictures in rapid fire. Enjoy!

Madison had her 1st Birthday!!

We swapped our bedroom and Troy's studio. We are both pretty happy with the switch.

Troy bought a new Rhodes piano for his studio room.

We went to the Rose Parade just down the street from our place on New Year's Day

My brother Tyson gave his girlfriend Genny a promise ring for Christmas!

Troy got Mario Cart for Christmas!

We hung out with our family

My friend Amanda found out she is expecting!

Kyle and Christina shared that they are going to have a baby! (This is a Christmas day photo- we are opening presents- bed head is part of the tradition of Christmas morning :)

We met our niece Campbell and got to spend lots of time loving her!

We hung out with our 2 favorite nieces!!

We survived 'The Arctic Blast' snow and ice storm in Oregon

We had an Ugly Christmas Sweater party. By the way, these are all my mom's sweaters in this picture and 2 of them won for most ugly.

Lesley got engaged and we went to visit her fiancé's family!

Now I realize why we haven't posted in so long! We are back to home and work and regular life but one thing is really different (besides having a new President!). Troy decided not to tour this year so he is home and working on a few different projects. We hope to keep up with life and filling you in as the months continue.

Oh, and Happy New Year!

Chistmas Video

2008-12-01T18:30:00.000-08:00

Below is a video from the Advent Conspiracy that intends for us to get back to the heart of CHRISTmas. Hope this is meaningful to you.

Here is a website with some ideas on alternative gift giving: www.rethinkingchristmas.com

Happy Day of Thanks!

2008-11-27T22:35:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend my family was in town and we had a great time hanging out! Troy came in on Friday from Germany so he just missed Thanksgiving with us but we made up for it on Saturday by going to the beach and walking through Christmas lights. Here are a couple pics from Thanksgiving Day.

Happy Maddie!

She loves her tongue and everyone loves her. It was great to play and be silly with Maddie all weekend!

Our Feast

We made food for 20 but there were only 6 of us. One more reason I'm glad Troy came home- he is cleaning up on left-overs with me.

Bath Time

Maddie is our little dolly. It's amazing to me how many different expressions a baby can have on their face.

I wish I still had my hooded towel!

SoCal On Fire

2008-11-15T22:17:00.001-08:00

This weekend I was planning on going to a monastery in Santa Barbara for a retreat with several people from our church. The retreat is focused on getting away from the noise of life to listen to God and reflect His work in our life. I attended the retreat last year as a participant and this year would have been one of the leaders. The beauty and peace of God rests in that place. It was also there that God began to heal some deep wounds in my life. Needless to say, the monastery is special to me and many others.

Well, we did not go because there were some serious fires close to the area and the roads were closed. Soon after we realized that the monastery had burned down along with hundreds of homes and a portion of Westmont College, a nearby Christian University. Not only has Santa Barbara had severe fires but also many places in Orange County, about 15 miles East of where my brother Tyson lives, and Sylmar which is north of us by about 25 miles. Many of us are mourning the loss of homes, keepsakes, and even lives. Please pray for those who have lost so much. Please pray for a friend of ours who is a pastor with a young family in Sylmar who lost their home and everything in it while they were helping others.

I have attached some pictures of the Monastery including the courtyard, a reading room and a place where I sat and took pictures of the sunset until it finally was dark one evening.

November in LA!

2008-11-11T13:11:00.000-08:00

It is kind of cold here but I don't think that counts as fall. After being in New York (where I took about 100 pictures of trees, no joke) I notice that the leaves are either green or dead- there is no in-between of orange, yellow, burnt orange, red, burgundy. Green and brown is all we got. Maybe because you either water the plants or don't and then they die. Or maybe because most of the trees are palm trees. I love trees! The longer I live in LA, the more I have a passion for and need to see trees.

Here are a few pictures of Central Park trees.

Troy comes back home again on Friday and I think he is going to try to post again soon. He has a bunch of pictures from Berlin, Barcelona, and Paris. I hope I get to travel to those places someday.

Currently, I am thinking of the holidays: How I can honor Jesus and serve Him in a culture that values serving ourselves first, which is very easy for me to get wrapped up in; and how to love my family and friends well as we celebrate Christ together. I have to be honest, I have been very anti-gift giving lately. I just want to hang out and let people know how much they matter to me without having to buy something that they probably don't need. I do have a great burden to spend my time and money on those that I see in need- like my neighbor who is having trouble finding a job, the villages I visited in Ethiopia who are facing possible relocation due to the vast deforestation of their land, and my baby nieces whom I love and want to make sure are well cared for.

I want to start new traditions of sharing Christ with those in need and spending quality time with one another without the need for gift-wrap and Christmas sweaters. I need to pray that God help me be loving toward those who want to continue traditional gift-giving... I know Troy is dying for a new keyboard- how can I not love him. :)

A few more pics...

2008-10-30T20:02:00.000-07:00

Coffee and cupcake before 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien' show. Mmm!

Troy with Conan!

Us & P!NK just after the show. The performance was great!

Today's Pics

2008-10-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

We saw Blue Man Group the other night. It was amazing! They had us put paper around our heads- part way through the show everything went to black light and all of our heads lit up. This was probably one of the most creative interactive art shows we have ever seen.

We are staying just down the street from MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art). They have Vincent van Gogh's painting 'Starry Night' and hopefully we will get to see it tomorrow. For now, here's the pic just outside. I liked it :)

St. Patrick's Cathedral

I think this is one of my favorite places in New York. The cathedral is huge, has the most intricate design and stained glass and smells like a a log stove and a touch of incense. There are candles everywhere which make it warm and cozy. I have gone twice in the last 3 days. Yesterday, I went to pray and read a bit. It was awesome to worship God in such a beautiful place.

Troy playing at the show last night. They had a lot of fun... so did I.

Isn't this picture cool? :) It looks better when it's not downgraded. They were rockin!

Fun in New York!

2008-10-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

After our weekend together in LA, Troy and I traveled to New York yesterday. He is still touring and they play a bunch of shows here and then head to London (while I go back home, booo). If you want to see Troy play, catch him on The View tomorrow morning or Conan O'Brien on Thursday. We are having so much fun in New York- exploring and eating A LOT! The food is great here! Tonight we saw Blue Man Group. It was amazing! The art, musicianship, creativity, and comedy in that show is some of the best we have ever seen.

Troy's new guitar for tour.

Our hotel room- so fancy. I love this bed!

Us at Time Square. We are totally tourists!

¡Muy Contento!

2008-10-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

Troy comes home this Friday! I am so happy! I think that the first thing he will do when he gets here is give me a kiss, and the second will be to de-decorate the organ. Yes, I totally decorated his organ for fall. It is so nice with a green runner, some autumn leaves, indian corn in full color, and a nice scented candle. I showed him the other day over a video chat and he wanted me to immediately clean off the 'sacred space'. The organ is the perfect height and color for fall decorum! Being a bit defiant but mostly having fun with him, I told Troy that he would have to come home and take them off himself. Well, this week he's home and I prefer my husband to any decoration so I will just have to take a picture to remember my seasonal organ bliss! :)

The organ is so happy here! This could cause serious strife in our marriage by posting this picture.

I also took the liberty of decorating the book case full of CD's in the living room. It is a bit much, I agree. :)

To give an update on my neighbors, we held a neighborhood BBQ last Saturday in our backyard. I am loving getting to know the families on my street and just beyond. We talked and ate burgers and enchiladas while the kids decorated pumpkins and cupcakes. Then all of the adults joined in on the cupcake decorating. We had a great time and I can see that my neighbors want to be a part of a greater community.

I am realizing that becoming a community takes a lot of effort and that it cannot all come from me. As much as I enjoy hanging with people and sharing in their lives while trying to live out Jesus' love, I am praying for others who want to do the same to join me. I believe my neighbors are looking for hope and a sense of belonging. They are seeking out God in some way. I ache for them to find Him. As our relationships grow, I need wisdom and courage to be bold in speaking the God's truth to them. I am excited for whatever is next- God is doing an amazing work in my neighborhood!

Pics from Our Year

2008-10-13T14:27:00.001-07:00

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

My friend Sam-Ana and her kids took me to the Pumpkin Patch with them on Saturday. It was beautiful to be in nature and to feel like it was fall.

The Sunflower Forest!

Old men singing 'Go back to your wife and family.' They were great!

Sam-Ana and Zion on the hayride. There was a lot of dust.

Eden and Zion on top of the haystack being goofy.

Learning about my Neighbors

2008-10-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

I said in my first post that I have really been wanting to love my neighbors- to know them and hang out with them and share in the beauty of God with them. I am so excited, it's happening! Honestly, I am amazed at how God is totally bringing people into my life.

On Wednesday I had dinner with one of my neighbors who walks her dogs by my house often. We originally struck up a conversation because I thought her dog's name was Banana, which it was not. We started talking about random stuff like the dogs, her job, and the church and I ended up walking with her most of the way to her house. The awesome thing about it was that she had said she felt like she really needed to read the Bible or go to church and now here I was, a pastor.

I thought that a BBQ might be a good way for our neighbors to get to know one another so on Friday I walked to our neighbors homes passed out flyers for it. As I met people, I realized we have a lot of young families in our neighborhood and a good amount of diversity. I have never done a 'gather the neighbors event' so I really don't know what the turn out will be like. This week is going to include some serious prep work- the BBQ is on Saturday.

My final neighbor story of this post: I woke up EARLY on Saturday morning (I think it was 7am). As I laid in my bed wondering why I was awake Starbucks popped into my head. My old co-worker and friend Shannon still works there and God keeps bringing her to mind. So, I walked to Starbucks to see if she was there. She was not there. I was bummed. I didn't even really want coffee. As I stared at the pastry case thinking that sugar might make up for the walk Shannon came around the corner. The first things out of her mouth were, "Trisha! How are you? It's so weird that you are here because I have been having all of these 'God moments' lately and I have been thinking that maybe I need to go to church." That was rad to hear. I let her know that I had only come to see her and that God has been putting her on my heart and that I am praying for her. I think I am going to go to class with her at USC sometime soon. I am so glad I got out of bed.

By the way, I preached yesterday at church on Philippians 4:4-9. I am thankful for God to speak through me even though I always have a mini internal freak out right before.

Happy Little Madison

2008-10-06T23:06:00.001-07:00

Troy said we should add new pictures each time we post. Here's my newest favorite- our niece Maddie!

In Need of Rest

2008-10-06T22:38:00.001-07:00

I think one of the most important things that I am learning is to both live and minister out of a quiet place. I am really good at being busy- too good. And what I end up doing is not valuing my personal time- the time that I spend taking care of my soul. Since Troy has been gone (a little over 2 weeks) I have managed to fill most hours with activity. Each day full of something wonderful like a good conversation with a friend or something hard like grieving the loss of another friend and helping others through.

I am being forced into slowing down. This morning my body told me that I have had enough- I had a migraine and then threw-up (sorry, I know it's sick). I didn't realize how exhausted my body has been. I didn't want to rest. I was trying to read about the Sabbath! Trying to learn what it means to take a day off for real. I did not expect a day of rest to come in this form.

More than anything, it's difficult to trust God to take care of everything in His time. This may seem like a big leap, but I have been working really hard to minister to every person and take care of all the needs I see around me.

slow down...

God is so good to give us rest and to call it holy. I was told recently that it's more important to run at a pace that I can keep up for the next 30-40 years of ministry rather than the next 3-4 weeks. This means a lot more rest and a lot less pewk. Nobody wants that. :)

Day Off In London

2008-09-29T07:35:00.000-07:00

Hello from London! I'm out here playing a bunch of TV's shows and promo with P!nk. We've been in London now for about a week and I love it here! A couple days ago I had a chance to get out and see the city a little bit. I got a day pass for the tube (the subway) and went to as many places as I could. I saw Big Ben, Westminster Abby, Trafalgar Square, the Tower of London and a bunch of other places in-between. It's fun being out on the road and getting to see the world a bit. I'll post more soon...

A Friend's Journey

2008-09-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been quite a whirl wind and a bit intense. A good friend of ours, Mitch Thomas, met Jesus face to face yesterday after battling Leukemia for the last year and a half. Everyone who knows Mitch loves Mitch! He was a part of the ministry here in Pasadena up through his diagnosis and did not move back to Spokane until earlier this year. We are part of the many in our community that are hurting over our loss. However, I am so excited that Mitch gets to be with Jesus! If you want to read more about his incredible journey check out this link: Mitch Thomas' Journey

Please pray for this community. I believe that God wants to do healing work in bringing people into reconciliation with Him through celebrating Mitch's life. We are having a memorial service on Saturday at 1:00pm and inviting all who were touched by Mitch.

Wahoo, a 3rd Post!

2008-09-22T12:49:00.000-07:00

I am just finishing breakfast (yes, it is 12:51pm right now) and have planned a whole day of running errands, cleaning and paying bills. Today is my day off and Troy left yesterday for tour so I am reorganizing a bit while he is gone. As much as I enjoy having free reign to decorate and organize part of me is doing this because being busy fills time and I really miss Troy when he's not home. I am so used to being married and having him here that when he's out of town I kick into turbo Martha Stewart mode. So, I am trying to live on the glass is overflowing side of life without faking it. I really am hurting because I LOVE being with Troy- he is my best friend and he is hilarious. But on the flip side I really enjoy the quiet time, the girl time and chick flicks, and decorating for fall with no critique that our place looks too girly.

We are both looking forward to the ministry that God has for us in this season. I am going to get to know neighbors, and spend time reading, praying and being with people. I am hoping to invite our neighbors over for a backyard hang.

As for Troy, he gets to use the gifts God has given him and share his life with the P!nk band. He will be traveling all over the world with them (Canada, Europe, Australia...) and will be home for short spurts in between. God has definitely called Troy to be a light in the music industry which can be a very dark place. Please pray for Troy while he is on tour. If you would like to join me I am praying Psalm 23 for him:

The LORD is my shepherd,

I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.

He restores my soul;

He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I fear no evil, for You are with me;

Your rod and your staff,

They comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You have anointed my head with oil;

My cup overflows.

Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all of the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Got It

2008-09-14T21:53:00.000-07:00

I got the gig with Pink!

-Troy

Numero Uno: sort-of

2008-09-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

Today we are starting a new blog. We weren't sure if anyone was reading our old one (that we created and then never update- oops, it had some great pictures though) until we were on vacation and some friends we rarely see told us they were waiting for the updates I had promised nearly 6 months ago. So, here's the update Beck.

We did just return from vacation and had a great time hanging with our family! Troy was all about shooting nerf guns and I wanted to ride bikes 24-7. It was nice to be in the forest again- LA cannot manufacture the beauty that seems almost effortless in the OR.

Now that we are back to the grind, I am finding that I really want to know all of my neighbors. Like really know them and have them over for dinner and coffee and to play the wii. I have never felt the huge urge like I have recently to walk up to their doors and say hello and just hang out for a while. I wish more people had porch swings so we could talk and swing. I sound like a hill-billie. Anyway, I really want to know my neighbors. Hopefully I will have some good stories for you about them- I already got a hug from one neighbor who told me he was gay and then called me baby.

As for Troy, he is at a pretty huge audition right now which I think he will probably get. He is still at work on writing his own stuff and he is planning to do a Christmas album this year titled 'Merry Folkin' Christmas' which I think is a brilliant name. We'll see what happens this year with the music biz. Nothing is ever for sure which makes us trust God a lot. I am sure Troy will post soon too...

Promise another blog soon (and some pics).