Blue Zionite

Some pics, of course!

2008-07-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

The above photo was snapped by my Aunt's boyfriend Eric F. Yay--our eyes are open! That's not the case in a number of other shots...er...
Our official wedding photos should be up very soon...I will put a link to the website when it is established.
In the meantime...

So, our friend Eric B. who is an aspiring hobby-photographer, snapped some really great shots when he was in Wisconsin for our wedding a month ago. Here is a link to all 27 pics if you'd like to check them out:www.picasaweb.com/eblumber
Here are a few of my favorites...

What a gorgeous pic--seriously! I'm guessing this was a shot from the area by the rural church we tied the knot in.
The Academy Award winning shot for sure: my youngest bridesmaid, Elisabeth, in front of West Salem's famous Gazebo. I think she'll be using this for her headshot when she starts applying for roles as an actress! Watch out--she's only 12! :)
My favorite shot of me and Josh...I'm so happy he didn't smash cake in my face.
Kairos Hollywood Canvas Group--yeah! Caleb & Greg with Matt and Kim F, Eric and Audrey B, and the Notorious S-P-O-T. Fabulous!
Josh's best man, Sam S....giving a shout out to the Almighty! (????)
Caleb and Greg--groomsman and Pastor/Officiant. Aren't they cute together? Awwww...
Our ringbearer--Erik--with Josh's sister Becky. :)
My Grandmas--Joyce R and Joyce R. Ha! The funny thing is that my Mom's name is Karon and Josh's mom's name is Karen, so when we have kids someday, their Grandmas will have the same name too.
,
Awww, lovely Ladies! Audrey (bridesmaid), Stacey (Matron of Honor), and Christy (performer/helper Extrordinaire) looking BEAUTIFUL!

More soon!

2008-07-13T17:42:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends!
Just a quick note to say I am back and married and will be blogging again as soon as we get internet hooked up in our apartment--hopefully this week.
Cheers for now!

So, it's been almost a month...

2008-06-11T09:11:00.001-07:00

Wow, hard to believe that in the last month I simply haven't found the time to post anything new on my blog...
I meant to--believe me.
I thought of waxing poetic when my faithful, old (albeit way beat up) Honda Accord finally pooped out on me a number of weeks ago.
(Now Josh and I are sharing driving his VW Jetta.)
I considered sharing some heartfelt thoughts on the eve of moving my stuff into the new apartment I'll be sharing with Josh. But moving takes forever and no extra time was found to blog.
I had banked on being able to post something once we got unpacked in our new place, but we soon discovered that there was no free wireless internet in our apartment building's lobby as had initially been promised...hmmmm.
While couch-hopping this last week, I figured I could sneak onto a friend's computer and put something on my blog...but no, it was enough of a battle just turning up by 10pm each night.
But here I finally am...my pals S&V just left for a trip to Puerto Rico this morning, and I'm staying at their place for the next few days, so I was determined to put some form of communication up and let you know I'm still kicking...

It has been a crazy month.
For work, I transferred stores but the original promotion was reneged on. So that was an adjustment, as was the move, as was the car, as was spending less time with Josh, as was having no time to exercise, as was being sick for about 3 weeks straight.
Then last week I was offered management of the store I transferred to, and as of this last Monday I officially took over the ship (so to speak). I am determined to do the best job I can, but such a big change so close to our wedding (and all the last minute drama it's enduring), is a bit of a challenge.

But as the Beatles sang, "O Bla dee, O bla da, Life goes on..."
And it does.

To leave you with something a bit more palatable, the following pics I leeched off of my friend Christy. She snapped them at a 'roomie reunion' a couple of weeks ago, when a bunch of us got together at a tasty pizzeria in Larchmont. (That explains the red glow).
While we never all lived together at once, I think Christy and Elizabeth managed to live in the apartment with most/all incarnations of the mix.

From left to right: Sarah, Stacey, me, Elizabeth, Elise, Christy, Tammy
Elizabeth/Elise/Tammy
Sarah/Stacey/Me

Baseball and life

2008-05-12T11:06:00.001-07:00

Hi Friends!
Once again I acknowledge the lack of effort I have been devoting to keeping my blog updated. Sorry to an avid readers...Life has been super-busy...so much so that the countdown to my wedding isn't even in the forefront of my mind these days! (But it's 40 days to go for anyone who's wondering...)
This pic is from my recent visit to Wisconsin. To my left are my pals Lisa and Nick. The 3 of us called ourselves the trailergators. One year for Lisa's birthday, we had a 'trailergator' party and got alligator-themed items. I worked at a bakery in my hometown, and was able to order cupcakes with gators on them made out of frosting. Lisa was the purple one, Nick was the green one, and I was the blue one. Would've been well-represented by this pic here if only I had wore blue instead of Gray!

And this is Josh and me at a Dodgers game this last Friday night.
Our friend Matt--who is as much an avid baseball fan as Josh--was celebrating his birthday.
This was my second baseball game ever. The first was the weekend before when Josh took me to see his favorite team--the Baltimore Orioles--play the LA Angels. Josh did an excellent job of fielding all of my questions, and I actually enjoyed the game. By the end of it, I was even moving to see if foul balls were being caught (aka I really did care!). The Dodger game wasn't as fantastic for me due to a a number of reasons 1)there was so much going on in the crowd that it distracted me from the game...for instance, one home run was hit, but I missed it because our section was batting around a beach ball 2)Josh and I stood in line at the concession stand for 2-3 innings waiting to get hotdogs. They were so slow!!! 3)I ended up chatting with Matt's wife Kim at the end of the game, which was great--but again, I wasn't really paying attention to the game.
So the moral of the story is that I have learned that yes, I can quite enjoy watching a sports game...but I am still the same Kristie--no sportsified, die-hard bbal fan version to deal with.

In other news, Josh and I went apartment-hunting last week too. We found a nice place in an apartment building not too far from where I used to live last year. I was a bit sad that we didn't end up getting a place closer to where our friends live, but I guess that's life. The apartment we picked makes sense for us.
AND I found out the same day that I am getting a promotion through work and will be managing my own coffeeshop starting next week.
Wow!

Pics from my Bro's Wedding

2008-04-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

So, I'm back!
This last Saturday (April 19, 2008), my sole sibling got hitched.
Here are a few pics from the event--courtesy of my Aunt's boyfriend, Eric. :)

This is my Grandpa (Vernon) and me sitting in a pew before the ceremony. I got to be a bridesmaid, hence the fancy getup.

This is my Aunt Sharon and me with the light of God shining upon us...or something! Ha!

This is my brother Kurt, his wife Jessie, my Aunt Sharon and my Uncle TB. Sharon and TB are Kurt's godparents.
Kurt and me! We used to look a lot more alike than we do now...that's probably not a bad thing.
Jessie dancing with our cousin Corey (who doubled as the best man) during the dollar dance portion of the reception.
I paid a buck for this attitude?! Eric had to ask me what I said to make Kurt look at me so strangely. That is my little secret...I did laugh out loud when I first saw this pic though...

The count goes on--or, The clock is ticking!

2008-04-16T17:17:00.000-07:00

66 Days till I get married, Friends!

Tomorrow I am flying back to Wisconsin for my brother Kurt's wedding. I am quite looking forward to this weekend. Friday I have a lot of my own wedding details to take care of (seeing a florist, checking out the reception site, figuring out manicure details for my bridesmaids, ordering cakes, picking out decorations, etc.), but Saturday is all about the Bro!
I have the honor of being a bridesmaid. :)
Sadly, Josh isn't able to come with me...but this should be the last time I have to travel alone before we tie the knot in June!

So yeah...getting down to T-time here...
Next weekend Josh and I are going to go apartment hunting...yes, add moving to the "To Do" list of Pre-wedding activities. Well, Josh will probably be moving in on June 1st, but I'll just be moving my stuff in till after the big To-Do.

Work is perpetually consuming my time too. My manager has been on vacation for the last week and a half, and shouldering even more responsibility than I already have has been a bit crushing. Last week I put in well over 50 hours. If I was a workaholic that would be great, but I'm not. Still just waiting for a spot to open up so I can manage my own coffeeshop...

Last night Josh and I got to go to a taping of Mad TV, courtesy of my pal Hunter who is a PA on the show. It was fun, but wow...I hate faking laughter. I really can't do it. Josh can--he pretends to laugh like Tom Cruise (and *that* makes me laugh!)--but I can't...it's like faking coughing--I can't do that either.
I would like the comedy on the show a lot more if it weren't for all the sexual content. As it is, I laughed a fair bit, but was quite ready to go home at the end of it.
The episode we viewed guest stars Dominic M--something or other. He was Merry the Hobbit in Lord of the Rings. Seems like a nice guy.
It's going to be on tv the weekend of the 26th...so if you watch it, you should let me know if you can hear me laughing. ;) Josh and I were in the front row on the balcony with a mic right in front of us, so odds are good.

Peace out for now, Peoples.

What's on My Mind

2008-04-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

Logistics and numbers...
Wedding Planning can be fun but consuming.
Sorry I haven't had much time to update my blog these days...
Work is keeping me busy too.
Soon Josh and I will be apartment hunting too.
Hooray!
I will share deeper thoughts again soon...!
How many more times can I use the word 'soon'...?

Easter Psalm

2008-03-24T16:23:00.001-07:00

So Yesterday at Kairos, our Pastor JR had us take the last 5 minutes of his message time to write a psalm to God. 5 people shared what they wrote. I did not, but I thought I might as well put mine up here... So this is inspired by the things JR addressed in his message...

Lord,
let me not struggle
in your delverance

When you hear
the cry of my heart
but I hold the medicine
in my mouth
refusing to swallow
Let your mercy surround me

When I pray for a sign
Then defiantly look through it
Turn my eyes to yours

Rebuke me in your Love
and let your correction
be the Light that leads me.

Do not let me dawdle on the path
Or sink down
when I protest I am tired
Be the strength in me
and urge me ever onward
Discontent with everything
but pure obedience
to Your perfect, divine,
Loving will

Turkey Pics III--Miscellanous

2008-03-11T17:34:00.001-07:00

Sorry I've been neglectful, Dear Blog! Life has been busy, and I promise I will have something of substance to say again soon... For now, here are some final pics from my trip last month to Turkey...

When Suhye and I drove into Efes (or Ephesus), we had to go through a couple of tolls. At one, a little girl (I'm guessing she went to work with her dad) held this pretty purple flower out to me. I smiled at her and nodded, saying "pretty!" in English as if she could understand me. She just kept smiling and holding out the flower so I put my hand out to take it. She nodded and as I said "Thank you!" her smile got bigger. I put it on the dashboard of our rental car and snapped this pic before I had to toss it out at the end of the day.
This is one portion of one wall of a public toilet in the ruins in Ephesus. No ceiling, four walls, lots of chances to get to know your neighbor a bit better. Ahem...yes well, Thank God for indoor plumbing!
This is one of the many cats overrunning the country! There were cats at Ephesus, running around in the ruins. There was a cat at the Blue mosque, sunning itself--or trying to on an overcast day. There were cats traipsing through the neighborhoods of Istanbul. Thankfully, I like cats!
This sign is the $1,000 shot! This was at the entrance to Ephesus. Yes, it's a pay-to-go restroom. Yes, that's a mostly naked kid on the sign. And yes, it was enticing tourists to experience 'the magic atmosphere'! WHAT?!!
This was an add on the back of the seat in front of me...flight towards Ephesus. Suhye tells me the name of the airline--Onur--means respect. What's great is that the little motto underneath literally translated is, "Fly Turkey, fly!" Ha!
I like birds! This one was around the Blue Mosque area.

And this was a shot of traffic, but I enjoyed the humor of what the ad looked like on the truck driving by. Finally, this bottom shot was a beautiful taste of irony...a brightly colored plastic trash can in the middle of the magnificent ruins in Ephesus. Go figure! Ha!

Reasons to Smile...

2008-02-22T17:51:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I just have to think about how good I've got it... :)

Today it was payday at work. I was happily surprised by the fact that my paycheck included a quarterly bonus that I was 95% positive I wouldn't be getting. Thank you, God! This is the second quarter that has happened...my wedding budget is not so intimidating with these happy surprises.

Today was also rainy here in LA. I went to a shop down the street to get alterations for the bridesmaid dress I'll wear in my brother's wedding this April. His fiance sent the dress to me in the mail, and expressed her concern over it getting wet or lost. I had an appointment at the shop for 2pm, but when I got there, a sign said the owner would be back at 2:15. I waited right in front of the door....the weather was amazingly clear for this short window of time, and then started to rain AFTER I was done and leaving the shop...I think I would have been in big trouble if the rain kicked in while I was waiting outside.

Another reason I have to smile is that a good handful of my coworkers are FUN and Funny! Last week I had a laughing fit after I called one coworker by his initials--HR. After a couple of times, he responded, "HR? Oh yeah, like Human Resource..." However, our store was loud and busy when he said this, so I didn't quite catch it, and I asked him, "What about a racehorse?" He chuckled and repeated, "HR like Human Racehorse...Yeah." The imagery of that almost put me in tears!

And yet another reason I can grin ear to ear...I know Valentine's Day was last week, but I'm still thinking about what a great gift Josh surprised me with--Fair Trade Chocolate Truffles AND a little Care Bear. It was the best present ever! And whenever I think of it, I can't stop grinning....!

Ok, my final pics from Turkey will be up soon, but I was feeling too happy to let the chance slide by without posting my thoughts today...!

Pics from Turkey Part II--Life & Culture

2008-02-20T09:51:00.000-08:00

So, here are the friends I was visiting in Istanbul! Eun Sang and Suhye are the proud parents of Seo Hyun and Jun Seo. They quite enjoyed their two years in Turkey, and returned briefly to Korea for 6 months, leaving just days after my visit. The kids had forgotten most of the English they had learned, but it was fun to hear them tossing around some English phrases by the end of my visit. :)
These two pics are in a shop in the Egyptian Spice Bazzaar (aka market). Suhye and I stopped here to buy some boxes of Turkish delight. The food in the case below is primarily turkish delight...a gummy sort of candy that can be flavored with fruit or nuts. I liked the pistachio versions...

I had to ask Suhye what these guys were selling because it looked so intriguing. Turns out, they were shoe-shiners!
Suhye and I stopped for lunch, and the waiter offered to take our picture. You can't really see it on our plates, but we ordered 'meatballs' which which actually more like flat-rectangular pieces of meat. Very tasty though. There's also a colossal plate of bread behind Suhye's arm. I even tried the huge pepper on my plate and it wasn't half-bad!
These two vendors were very common sights in Istanbul. The top one is selling roasted chestnuts. The bottom one is selling this hard bread called simit. I wished I could've tried both, but there's only so much food I can eat in a day, so I didn't try either. It was also common to see guys selling roasted corn on the cob.

Here's my handful of Turkish Lira! The same guy's picture is on all the money. I am told he was the first president of Turkey, and a real hero. If I'm not mixing up my stories, he helped the country become way more literate by revamping how words were written, or something like that...??? I don't know, you'd be better off researching for yourself!

Here's lunch near Ephesus...Shish Kebabs for me...
A snack on the domestic flight to Ephesus. The tea is called Cay ("chai"), but tastes nothing like the Chai we serve at Starbucks! It's super bitter & strong. People drink it multiple times of day, but usually add around 4-5 cubes of sugar. Nasty! Below the tea is a towelette. Even our rental car had towelettes!
This was at a coffee shop near the market. The baklava was divine! Yum! Notice the glass the Cay is in--very traditional. To the left is the remains of my turkish coffee. It's half grounds (when you're done, you flip the cup and apparently read your fortune in the coffee grinds...), but the ounce of liquid is quite sweet and tasty. In the bottom right corner is my regular cup of Joe, or filtered 'kahve' to the Turks.

This was my first breakfast in Istanbul, and it was splendid! The bread gets spread with this salty cheese (see the green tub?). It's known simply as white cheese. The fruit juice (served at room temperature) was very tasty too.

Pics From Turkey Part I--Amazing Views

2008-02-14T14:26:00.000-08:00

So, my short trip to Turkey was a lot of fun, but it is good to be back home. I've been pleasantly surprised that the jet lag has already worn off--Thank you, God! I took more pictures than I can post here on my blog, but I'm going to share a few with you.
Here is the first thread of them (and in reverse order--sorry!)
These are some of the amazing views I saw.
The first few are ruins from the town of Ephesus (or just Efes if you're Turkish), which is the city the Biblical Book of Ephesians was written to.
The first pic was at the end of the little walking trail...a bunch of columns on either side...I was very impressed with how magnificent it all must have looked back in the day.

Yeah, sorry I couldn't flip the image sideways before I posted it! These are the remains of a massive library. The four statues in front represented four different virtues...wisdom, kindness, beauty, or something like that...? The first two look a little odd, but the second two are headless! Scary!
Lots of room in this theatre!
Ok, these next pics (including the one above) are from a town outside of Ephesus where the remains are for the church of John--the disciple who was in Jesus' inner circle, and who wrote the book of Revelation. This is the baptismal area...
This is the tomb where John is actually buried. That thing in the middle has a stone with his name on it. It is also believed that Jesus' mother, Mary, lived here last days round these parts too...
I just liked this shot. :)
These two pics are right around Istanbul. This is the famous Blue Mosque--so called because most of the painting inside is done up in blue. It was impressive, if not a little awkward for me to be a tourist at a mosque...
This one might actually be St. Sophia's, which is across the street from the blue mosque. It was a Christian church back in the day, but was then turned into a mosque. It still has amazing Byzantine sort of Christian paintings on some of the walls though....

More pics to follow in the coming days...

Hello from Istanbul!

2008-02-08T09:46:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends!
I'm just putting up a quick hello as I type in my friends' apartment here in Istanbul, Turkey. I arrived last night (I should note there's a 10 hour difference between L.A. time and the time here), and am enjoying catching up with my friends.
Today I got to see part of the city, try some delicious Turkish food, and ride on a bus, a metro, and in 2 taxis.
I definitely feel like I'm on an adventure here...I can now just barely say, "Hello" and "Thanks", though after a quick language lesson, I feel relatively confident in pronouncing the words I read. It is quite an odd feeling though to bump into people left and right, and know that most won't understand my "Sorry!"s and "Pardon Me"s.
I am taking a crazy number of pictures, so rest assured--I'll post some when I return to the U.S.
I'll be leaving here Monday morning (super early!), and getting back into LA Monday afternoon.
Be well in the meantime!

Here are some pics!

2008-01-30T08:56:00.001-08:00

Hi Friends!
So, one of the presents Josh gave me for Christmas was a digital camera. I have to admit, though I used to be an avid picture-taker in my younger years, I am quite the opposite at this point in my life. Regardless, the camera was a fun present and I have enjoyed snapping a few random shots. So in the last month or so, these are the images I have collected to share with you all...

A couple of weekends ago, Josh and I went hiking in Angeles State Park. We were amazed to see snow...turned out that because of the snow, we only got about a mile in and had to turn back on the trail because tennis shoes just weren't going to get us where we wanted to go.
The above shot is a rock along the trail. From far off I thought it quite resembled an alien head, but closer up, I changed my mind and could quite certainly see a likeness to George Washington...
The below pic is Josh and me!
And this was the view only a few feet from where we stopped and had lunch. :)
Below is a coffee mug I got Josh from Starbucks...snapped it shortly after we figured out how to work the camera.
And this next one is my bedroom door laden with all the Christmas and Birthday cards I received in December of '07. If you contributed, I thank you again! :)
These are my two favorite canines in the world right now...my furry friends Mitzy and Buggins who belong to my pals Eric and Audrey. Whenever I stop over at their place, I look forward to some good puppy-petting!
This is Audrey, Eric, and Josh hunkering down to an intense game of Settlers...Audrey beat me by one turn!
And this is a pic Josh snapped of me as soon as we got the camera out of the package on Christmas Day!

Pondering Eternity

2008-01-24T13:58:00.000-08:00

The other day at work, I was running out the trash to the dumpster, and I found myself thinking through some pretty deep stuff.
I am 28, and I was thinking about how different of a person I am now, compared to earlier years of my life.
Then I thought, I wonder how different from the me I am now I'll be when/if I get to 60...
Or how about past that?
I do believe in eternal life...that's a heck of a long time. At some point will I even remember the person I started off as?
And in some ways, it feels like this changing and growing could be seen as a sort of death. Kristie version 4.9 passes away to make room for Kristie version 5.0.
And in some ways, that sort of defies my concept of 'living forever.'
But yet...maybe not...
In retrospect, when I see all the ways I've changed over the years, I do believe it's been for the better. I can feel connected to the person I was at age 9, but the 9 year old version of me would probably been a little baffled at the 28 year old version.
I believe that (perhaps?) all the changes and growth are making me more into the person I am meant to be...
Like you start out with a big blobbish sort of entity...take a little off the side here, clip out that there, tighten up on this, refigure that, and eventually the dimensions the creator intended begin to appear...
I don't know if this will make sense to anyone else, but I thought I might as well transfer it from my head to my blog, so there you go!

When you've got no one to blame but yourself...

2008-01-17T16:47:00.000-08:00

So this morning was one of my blessed days off of work.
I slept in, which was WONDERFUL!
I ambled out to my car around 9:30 am...off to go pray with a friend.
And, whaddayaknow...there on my windshield was a parking ticket.
ARGH!!!!
My initial reaction was anger.
The stupid road I park on never has enough stupid spots anyway, and if I park in the stupid alley, I have to get up and move my stupid car before the stupid city would need access to the alley and tow me. What's more, it was garbage collection day, so everyone had their stupid garbage receptacles out on the curb, taking up space! I had found one blessed possible spot to park in when I got home late last night, but when I was backing up, the stupid wind was shaking one of the stupid garbage receptacles and so I thought I hit it with my bumper and I pulled ahead a couple feet. This left me parked a couple feet into the stupid red on the curb, though the vast majority of my car was clear. I pondered the difficulty of the garbage truck getting by, but figured I was safe...especially considering how many people park their stupid cars completely in the red and get away with it!...but not on garbage mornings...
I looked at my ticket and balked at the $70 fee this would cost me.
Money I could have put into my wedding fund...
Money I could have gotten Josh a nice 6 month anniversary gift with...
Money I could have spent during my upcoming trip to Turkey...
Money I worked hard for and had now squandered.

My mind briefly did a scan of all the people I could blame for this unfair catastrophe. Perhaps due to my creative thinking abilities, I came up with a few options.
But ultimately I had to admit it...I was the one who screwed up.
Kristie, did you park your car in the red?
Yes.
Kristie, did you make the decision to leave your car there instead of reposition it?
Yes.
Kristie, did you decide to not get up before now and move it to a safer spot?
That's right.
Ok then...so it's your own darn fault--deal!

Minutes later I wrote out my check and mailed it from my friend's place. At least I could get on with the rest of my day...and hopefully I learned my lesson.

Morally Reprehensible

2008-01-09T14:03:00.001-08:00

Ducks are an animal I think fondly of.
Back when I lived in Minneapolis, I would see random mallards and wood ducks when I would go for a run. They made me smile and feel happy.
When I was little, I always enjoyed feeding ducks bread too.
One time, a number of years ago, a friend and I were talking about ducks and their potential to serve as a main course.
I came up with a little adage for my sentiments regarding this--Ducks are for feeding, not eating.
Ok, so I know the rest of the world is not bound to live by Kristie's convictions, but Kristie at least can, right?
Alas...I have a tale for you, my friends.
Saturday I was at a sort of potluck meal--one with a few different Asian dishes.
Among the different offerings of meat was a dish I thought might be barbecued pork. It looked good. I took a piece. It was decidedly hard to delve into, but I determinedly ripped the meat from the bone, and thought, "Not bad."
Minutes later a friend at this same meal looked at the 'barbecued pork' and mentioned, "Isn't the duck Good?"
"DUCK?!!" says I with a restrained level of consternation.
Oh yes, it was duck.
Wild duck, but duck all the same.
Josh noticed the look on my face and asked me if I was ok. I guess I had to be.
In some cultures its no big deal to eat dog or horse. For an American, this seems almost a crime. That about sums up how I felt.
Forgive me, my feathered friends, I promise to ask next time before I grab the mystery meat...

Breaking in 2008

2008-01-02T19:43:00.000-08:00

Happiest of New Years to you all, Friends!
I hope your respective 2008s are shaping up nicely.
Mine has been off to a rough start...massive headache, getting a second-degree burn @ work from hot cheese dripping on to the back of my hand (I kid you not), and feeling generally exhausted and super-sensitive.
So do forgive me for my lack of a post with real substance.
Just wanted to check in, say hi, and state for the record that I know my year WILL get a lot better!
In the words of The Charlatans:
"I see my light come shining/there is good on the horizon!"
And now for some sweet slumber...

Belated Christmas Thought

2007-12-26T17:47:00.001-08:00

So by this point in time, most of us are done celebrating Christmas.
Sure, people technically leave their decorations up till New Years without feeling guilty, buy the carols are put up on the shelf for another year, gifts are mostly done being exchanged, and candy canes and cookies begin to lose their luster.
I hope everyone bothering to read this post had a lovely Christmas.
Mine was pretty good...spent most of the day with Josh and was delighted by the unexpected gifts he gave me. Plus we started watching the first couple of episodes on the dvd of Count Duckula (season One) I recently picked up from Amoeba. Both of us dug the cartoon as kids, and as we recently finished watching all 3 seasons Josh had on dvd of Arrested Development, it was time to begin a new chapter...so to speak.
But I digress.
I wanted to talk Christmas.
Perhaps its not a surprise that the most meaningful thing about Christmas to me is that we're celebrating God coming to earth as a human to redeem us from our sin.
Possibly my favorite Christmas (advent?) carol is "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." Hugely significant.
Most of this Christmas season though, I was admittedly not in the mood.
Josh and I did watch The Nativity Story at the end of November, and that was great. But on the whole, I was too busy with work, visitors, and Christmas cards to allow the time for silent reflection and listening to God's voice.
My loss.
But the cool turn in the story here is that yesterday (?) when I was reading my daily bible devotion, something stuck out to me. Often I feel like little revelations/deeper insights are a gift from God...so maybe I can think of this as my Christmas present...
And here it is:
From Luke 2:8-12
"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'"

See, the thing that caught my attention from this familiar passage was the footnote at the bottom of the page. It mentions the fact that "The Christ" in Greek, or "The Messiah" in Hebrew both mean "The Anointed One."
Often times, people who don't necessarily claim to follow Jesus, praise him for being a good man; a wise teacher...perhaps even a prophet.
I once got into an online conversation with someone who challenged me to point out where Jesus ever claimed to BE the Messiah that the Jewish people were waiting for.
Obviously, as Christians, this is the claim we stake our faith on. Jesus WAS a good man. He WAS a wise teacher. He WAS a prophet. But he was also SO much more!
And in case anyone might think he simply had delusions of grandeur, let's re-examine the fact--Angels were the first to proclaim Jesus to BE the Messiah!
Shepherds were the first to be told about the much-anticipated fulfillment of God's most precious promise to his people--and what's more for ALL the people, not just the Jews.
I guess the thing that hit me this Christmas was just how awesome it must've been to hear that news. Your whole culture is groaning under the oppression of the Roman Empire, let alone sin, and the only hope you have really is that God promised to send the Messiah to break that yoke of oppression. When? Who was to say...but it was something to hope in.
So for the shepherds to be told that the Messiah had come must have been incredible! The proclamation of all of history being redeemed and brought into the present moment. Wow!
And though our Jewish brothers and sisters still wait in expectation for the Messiah to arrive, we Christians identify ourselves with proclaiming the Christ already has come...
And even in a holiday that has become as commercialized as Christmas, His name is still proclaimed.

Guy in a Movie Theatre

2007-12-23T16:08:00.000-08:00

So yesterday afternoon Josh and I went to see a movie at a cheap theatre here in LA. There was a guy in the theatre that was really rather interesting. ...humorously, intriguingly interesting.

There was music playing before the movie started and he was playing his harmonica along with the different songs. Honest! He stayed silent during Fiona Apple's "Paper Bag" (great song!), but that cut out anyway to have the previews start.

The funniest thing was when a promo/commercial came on that featured about 30 seconds on this guy walking along to "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin. Harmonica Guy went for it and jammed like part of the band for half a minute.

Wow, sometimes real life can be real amusing!

God bless ya, sir!

"Art"

2007-12-17T08:52:00.001-08:00

So this past weekend my Mom and her boyfriend have been visiting me out here in LA (which is a long way from Wisconsin!). Friday we went to Knott's Berry Farm, which probably would've been a lot more fun if we had more time to spend there (in the four hours we were there, we went on 3 rides, saw one performance, and looked through one exhibit). Anyway, to me the highlight of the trip was when we watched a Native American guy perform a traditional hoop dance. The above pic should give you some idea... He started out with picking up one hoop, and by the end, he was probably handling a dozen or so. REALLY impressive!
What's more, afterwards he spoke for a minute.
He mentioned that in Native American culture (I'm not positive if this extends to all tribes, but its the impression that I got), there is no word for "Art". All the singing, dancing, etc. are seen as a form of prayer. I really like that idea...

My First 10K!

2007-12-08T11:28:00.000-08:00

So about 2 years back, I ran my first ever official race with my good Pal, Foxx back in Minneapolis. It was Lifetime Fitness' 5K Reindeer run around Lake Harriet...in the nasty cold. It was a great experience though, and certainly has remained a noteworthy page in my life.
Today I officially moved onto Chapter 2 in my racing career (ha!). I undertook a 10K run in Santa Monica with my good friends Kim and Matt F. Here's a shot of Kim and me after the race:

Kim told me once that her parents know me as 'the girl from Wisconsin who wears flannel', and so I had to grin on the car-ride to the race when I realized I was fitting the mold once again.
And how was the race?
Mile 2 felt GREAT to me. Mile 5 was a push. By Mile 6 I was pretty sure I was going to die.
The three of us ran together most of the way, but Matt (who had been pacing himself) shot ahead when he saw the finish line. I told Kim it was ok if she wanted to smoke me too. She encouraged me to sprint, but I know my limits and kindly declined. Kim's a trooper and stuck by me till the end. We finished with a time of 1 hour, 1 minute and about 20 seconds. If you take off the time it took us to get to the starting line, that's actually closer to about 1 hour. I feel great about that! I think it's the fastest I've ever run for that long of a distance!
Yay!
And here's one more photo that Kim snapped of me stretching out by Matt's car at the end...she and Matt both found it funny, and I guess I'm willing to look like a dork if it could make someone else smile too:

wedding dresses and spiritual quotes

2007-11-30T15:20:00.001-08:00

Hello Blog friends,
sorry I've been so absent lately. Planning for a wedding can take up copious amounts of one's free time.
Speaking of which, I went hunting for a wedding dress yesterday!
No, the above pic isn't what I decided on...it's just a sample pic to represent the subject. Josh would probably kill me if I stuck the real deal up...he's adamant about not seeing the dress before the wedding. It's kind of cute. ;)
So the process was ultimately pretty painless.
I went to LA's downtown fashion district (my first time ever)--which is much less glamorous than it sounds; it's where you go for good deals, really--with my pals Michelle, Shalom, Audrey, and Mari. I tried on a total of 4 dresses within about an hour and a half. It came down to #s 2 and 4, but 4 won out in the end. I ordered it and could've picked it up later that day, but I decided to return for it next week instead.
Before we set out, Shalom asked me what my budget was, and I said $300. That was me trying to be economical...I had browsed at David's bridal, but most of their gear was $500 or more!
So the dress I picked out (and really like, which is great) ended up costing $299. Score!
Of course I still need to get a veil and shoes and such, but I'm pretty darn happy. And dare I say it--I even thought it was fun!

Switching gears completely, I came across the following quote in Dallas Willard's book, The Divine Conspiracy:
"Very little of our being lies under the direction of our conscious minds, and very little of our actions runs from our thoughts and consciously chosen intentions. Our mind on its own is an extremely feeble instrument, whose power over life we constantly tend to exaggerate. We are incarnate beings in our very nature, and we live from our bodies. If we are to be transformed, the body must be transformed, and that is not accomplished by talking at it.
The training that leads to doing what we hear from Jesus must therefore involve, first, the purposeful disruption of our 'automatic' thoughts, feelings, and actions by doing different things with our body. And then, through various intentional practices, we place the body before God and his instrumentalities in such a way that our whole self is retrained away from the old kingdoms around and within us and into 'the kingdom of the Son of His love' (Col 1:13 NAS)."

Coffee Quote

2007-11-17T09:28:00.000-08:00

At my Starbucks yesterday, I overheard one of our regular customers--George (who gets a decaf non-fat no foam latte several times a day)--say this to a coworker of mine:
"I tell my family this is better than crack!"

Of course I know the context and I don't think George or his family are into drugs, but the seeming possibility was highly amusing to me.
This is my weird sense of humor.
;)

Goodbye, Ristey!

2007-11-08T17:23:00.000-08:00

So, a lot of you who read this have already gotten the news, but to make it public knowledge: I am engaged! Wahoo!!! :)
Josh and I plan to get married in my hometown in Wisconsin this coming June 21st.
Should be one heck of a great time! :)
I am already feeling WAY blessed by the friends who have agreed to be a part of the wedding party, help out, and attend.
This pic is of almond blossoms, which I really *really* hope to get for the wedding flower...might prove difficult, but we'll see what we can do. It's hugely significant--if you want the dirt, shoot me an email.
I will try to post a better pic of Josh and I soon, but if you want to see a 24 second clip of him in real time, search for "Dodger Rant" at Youtube. :)
For those of you I promised an email of details to, I promise I will get on that soon...it's been a bit busy for me as of late, but I will get to it.
Thanks for sharing the joy, all!