Happy Day of Thanks!

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

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!

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...

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

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!

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!

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!