remodeling is ruining my life...

Ok, maybe that is a little dramatic.

My parents are in the process of remodeling their kitchen...which has now turned into plans to remodel pretty much everything else. While i do like the new tile and granite, it has been a little annoying to not be able to do laundry or cook at my parents house for last 5 weeks. I found out this morning that the washer and dryer will be back in today. The only good part about this remodel (besides the end result) is I have started this trend of hanging out with Mike and Sue on Thursday nights, staying the night, and doing my laundry and hanging out at their palatial mansion on Friday... I might still do that once in awhile.

DC for the weekend...

On Wednesday, October 17th, I decided that I was going to buy a plane ticket to DC for October 25-29. Just a short little trip to visit some friends and to be in a place that I absolutely love. It was one of those things where I just needed to get away. I got into DC around 7 pm on Thursday, and didn't leave until 5 pm on Monday...so a good 3 1/2 solid days there. It was great to get away from Fresno, well, California for that matter. It was great to not have an agenda that was set by anyone else, but an agenda to do and see who I wanted. I was able to connect with a couple of friends from Fresno who recently moved back there and another friend who is interning for the semester. Besides that, I was able to hang out with some of my great friends from McLean Bible Church. I stayed out in the boondocks of Maryland with Jenn...I thought parts of Clovis were white trash! Besides being able to see all of the things that I love in DC, I was able to walk around the beautiful campus of Georgetown, went to a slammin' Halloween party, and got to see the Chesapeake Bay. I got to eat at Cosi, Potbelly, Clyde's, and Front Page...but didn't have time for Capitol City Brewing Co.

It was definitely great to get away, refocus, and get some perspective on things in my life. For me, I have to purposefully take time out, get away, and spend time seeking the Lord to regain focus and to allow Him to knock some sense into me. It is so easy for me to become consumed with my life, forgetting that this isn't my life, it is His.

With that, this week has definitely had some bumps, but thinking back to just this weekend and what I know to be true, I find peace and comfort knowing that I am right where God wants me.

Livin' the Good Life

This whole blog thing has not been hapenning for me lately...I guess that is what happens when you have a job that keeps you going, and going, and going....you get the picture. However, my social life has not lacked one bit. :)

Stacey's birthday is on September 20th. Being the wonderful sister that I am, I took the afternoon off of work, drove down to Pasadena, and threw my sister a surprise birthday party. She had no idea! It was great...I have never thrown a surprise party before, so the look on her face was priceless. The funny thing is that Stacey says she does not like surprises, but she does. The night was fun. On Friday, she got out of class around 1. We headed to Rubios, got fish tacos, and then got pedicures. It was fantastic. I went shopping and then that night we went to another party (house warming/birthday party for Stacey and Bethany). Had a great time at the party, had a couple good conversations, met some new people....all in all a great time :). The next day I hung out with a friend for awhile and had a good conversation. That night, Stacey's new roommate and my friend Carrissa came in town, so I hung out with her. Came home on Sunday to another busy week.

The next weekend I went with Susan Phillips and her twin boys Blake and Jole to Catalina. The weather was wonderful! Laid out on the beach, played a little mini golf, walked around, danced until 2 in the morning, ate a lot of wonderful food...all in all a fantastic weekend. Once again, was met with reality on Monday morning.

I am not even sure where this last week went, but once again had a great weekend. I went out to a great dinner on Friday night with a couple of friends. Saturday I headed to the great city of Visalia (more accurately, to a farm in the middle of the country between Visalia and Hanford) to see my grandpa. Apparently my mom and my grandpa's mistress have been trying to get him to buy a new couch for a couple of months, I go down for one day and I got him to buy a new couch...gotta love the power of a grandchild. Ate at the wonderful restaurant called Sizzler (my parents take my grandpa to Sizzler EVERY Saturday). Took a much needed nap. Went to a friends house and went to the corn maze with her family. Stayed up and talked until almost 2 in the morning. I got 6 hours of sleep last night because I had to work this morning...gotta love working at a church. On my way to church this morning, driving 80 down the 168, a bird ran into my windshield! The bird played chicken with me, and it lost. Luckily my windshield did not break, but I did have to go get my car washed later in the day... Went to lunch with the Davis Trio (Brian, Gia, and Isabella), went to the grocery store, washed my car, did laundry, and then had some friends over for dinner. I laughed non-stop for about an hour and a half...it was great. I really do have some of the greatest friends...

All in all, it has been a good last couple of weeks...As busy as I am with work, I am blessed to be able to have a lot of fun in the process...working too much is completely overrated. I will say this, time seems to be flying by these days...

I do have a good life...

External Focus Blog

For work, I now have a blog so those in our church family and beyond are informed on the goings on. You can access the site here or here.

New Phone!!!!

I got a new phone about 2 weeks ago...it is the AT&T 8525 and it is awesome!

where did the time go???

I can't believe that it has been so long since i have written anything. Let's just say the past month has been quite eventful....again.

I had the chance to help put on a wonderful outreach at the Pomona Migrant Center in Madera, CA on August 18th. God definitely showed up in a big way...not like I was expecting anything else, but it is always humbling when the God of the universe does his thing in such a real way. For all the details, check out this site.

This past weekend I went down to visit my sister and some friends in Pasadena/LA. I had a wonderful time. On Friday night, I went to the House of Blues in Hollywood, was on the VIP list to see Mat Kearney. Being VIP let me go all over the place at the House Of Blues, along with free food, free drinks, and a great view of the concert. Chris Franz got himself, my sister, and Jen Fernandez on the VIP list, then he decided not to go...so I got to be Chris Franz for the evening.
Saturday Stacey and I went shopping, then spent 2 hours at the AT&T store getting her a new phone. That night, some of her friends were having a tailgate party since it was the first USC game. There was a lot that went on that night, but ultimately it was a lot of fun. Sunday I hung out with a friend, went on a motorcycle ride to Malibu, had some great food, hung out at the beach, saw Superbad (hilarious), watched Blades of Glory, and had some really great conversations. Monday it was time to head back to Fresno. Luckily, traffic was not bad on the way home, and 3 hours from the time I got in the car I arrived home.

Today was back to reality at work...I felt like I was kind of out of it today, not being able to concentrate a whole lot, but I should snap out of it in a few days...hopefully.

I might be climbing half dome this weekend, so it will be nice to get out Fresno and head up to yosemite.

Phase 10

My friends and I have discovered a new game...it is called Phase 10. I first played this game with my friend Meredith and her family years ago. This game has become somewhat of a weekly occurence. Since all of my friends are competitive, it becomes quite enjoyable when we begin skipping each other...and I become just as mad as the next person when I am skipped repeatedly. One of the best moments happened last Sunday night...I kept skipping Ashley, who had her phase and couldn't put it down b/c I kept skipping her, and who is one of the least competitive people I know, and she got pissed! I don't usually find joy and delight in people getting upset, but I couldn't help myself... :)