Dinner on my birthday...

Charlie Chaplin's Montecito Cafe was my choice for our meal and boy was it YUMMY.  I loved every bite of my spinach linguine with chicken & sun dried tomatoes.  But even better than that were the people that came all the way up there to celebrate with me.  It meant the world to me to have Paige all the way from Thailand just in time, Marci from Long Beach although she has just arrived home from 3 weeks in Washington DC, Sarah and Tom from Pasadena and Jason and Holly!  And of course my fam there was too.  

Jason and Holly (and baby #3 on the way, Jeremiah!)

Love my Sarah Jean...

My fancy drink, some kind of raspberry lemon drop I think!  Tasty!

My little Peach...

Marci looking HOT in her purple dress!

After dinner we walked back to the house for dessert and to open some gifts.  We had some awesome cheesecake and strawberries.  Mmmmmm...

Mom and Grandma June

My mom and Tom (Sarah's husband)

Isn't she cute in that purple?  

All in all it was a wonderful night that I won't soon forget.  I love my friends and family, that was the best part.  Thank you Jesus for my last 30 years.  I can't wait to see what You have in store for the next 30.  Thank you for blessing me with such wonderful people in my life.  I am truly blessed and thankful.  You are so good to me.

Santa Barbara... vacationing with the Strombacks

So Santa Barbara for my 30th birthday is just about the best thing I can imagine.  My parents rented a great house in Montecito within walking distance to Coast Village Road and Butterfly Beach.  It was an amazing location.  Brent and I actually drove up there Thursday night and spent one night in a hotel in Carpinteria.  We had breakfast at Jack's and then walked up and down Linden.  Todd met us there and we hung out until my parents arrived.  We all met at the house on Friday morning to move in.  

This beautiful tree was in the backyard of this house and I just loved it.

That first day we went down to the beach so Brent and Todd could swim.  It is just so beautiful there.  I soaked it all in and felt so thankful and happy.

Sadly we met a wounded pelican on the beach.  Brent was so excited (of course) when we saw a flock of them fly by.  Then a few minutes later came a solo pelican.  There were some sticks sticking out of the sand on the beach and this guy hit one of them.  He did a crash landing in the surf and got rocked by a few waves before getting onto the sand here.  Todd was very concerned (as he has always loved animals and has a big heart for the wounded).  He went down the beach to see if he was okay.  The large bird layed there like this pic for a good 5 minutes.  He didn't budge even when people got really close.  We think he was stunned by the battle with the stick.  After a few mins he got up to stretch his wings and in a soon after that he took flight again, much to our surprise.  Todd was greatly relieved!  

One morning Todd, Mom and I walked to Coffee Bean for breakfast and chatting.  They have the best Coffee Bean I've even been in there in Montecito.

Then we walked the long way around by the cemetery and then down to Butterfly Beach again.  It was a gorgeous morning.

We also went to Westmont one day which we ALL love.  Brent bought me some new pants from the bookstore and he got a golf shirt from my alma mater. It still feels like home there.

Mom and I under the wisteria

We tried to reinact an engagement photo that was taken in this very spot.  But alas... we look so much older now!  Oh... and another fun surprise for my 30th birthday, who knew that I have curly hair!  It was really fun to figure that out and start sporting a new look.

Took this for Grandma June... she LOVES this flower!

Westmont is going to be building a new chapel and apparently this is what it is going to look like.  I can't wait to see it in real life.  Pictures of the changes are posted all around the campus where changes are going to be made.  

One my fav spots!

Family  :)

We made a stop in the little chapel.  No one was in there so we talked for a bit.  It's such a cool place.

More to come in the next posts!  

"She said yes..."

Adam and Dani are engaged!!!... and since Adam's mom and sister were in town from Texas, we thought there would be no better time for a party! My parents opened their home, again, for us to throw a beautiful party for them. It was so much fun to do... and they are just so dang cute together.

Karen, Ashley and Jill picked out this awesome cake... I just love what it says, so clever!

Ashley and I were matching the theme colors for the party. :)
Adam being... well, Adam!

Riff Ram Mania
Anyone ever heard of the "Riff Ram?" I didn't think so. Well, only if you are a true TCU (Texas Christian University) fan would you know about the Riff Ram. Apparently is it a cheer that is done at football games and has been around a long time as Linda sang it when she was in school there and so did Ashley just a few years ago. GO FROGS!

Riff, Ram, Bah Zoo
Lickety, Lickety, Zoo, Zoo
Who, Wah, Wah, Who
Give ‘em hell, TCU

Ahhh... family!

Going back a little...

In June we had a wonderful visit with Brent's aunt Karen and cousin Ashley. We LOVE these people. We took them to Bandera for dinner one night... oh course!

Dani and Adam are so cute these days... being engaged and all!

We had a girls morning with breakfast at Las Brisas in Laguna and pedicures all around. Great fun!

Even though they were here for a week, it went by WAY too fast. We are already looking forward to being with them again. We love you Karen and Ash!

Thoughts on 30...

So turning 30, that's what I'm doing. I'm leaving my 20's behind and heading into an unknown territory of the 30's where all kinds of life happens and things get more serious and hopefully more fun at the same time. My Aunt Gena wrote in my birthday card that turning 30 is great because you've matured in many ways but still feel really youthful at the same time. That's how I feel I guess. I've grown so much in the last decade, so many big things in my life have changed... most for the better, thanks be to God for that. But I still feel young. I don't feel like college, or even high school for that matter, are that long ago. I still remember a lot of my thoughts and feelings from those times. I feel like there is so much life to be lived now, so many blessings still coming from the Lord. There is so much I want from the next decade of my life, so much I'm dreaming and hoping for. I can't believe I'll be 40 in ten more years. It's weird to think about since 20 doesn't seem very long ago at all. I guess what my parents say is right, life just starts moving faster the older you get. And that's fine if the years seem to go by fast, but one of my hopes for this year is that the busyness of life doesn't take over; that the days don't move too fast. I talked with the Lord a lot this weekend about resting, having the faith to really rest, to enjoy, to really be present in life... NOT just waiting for the next event or activity to come. I've been in a waiting season for so long now, and I'm tired of waiting. I want to live in "now", not "when..." It's so easy to get caught up in that. And I think one of the secrets to that is resting, really resting: being quiet, thinking, praying, being... whatever, just so long as I am making time in my life to rest. That's what I want in this next year of life, it's what I'm asking the Lord for... I want to learn about rest, real rest in Him that renews, rejuvenates, restores, and out of which springs real life.

Just my two cents...

Turning 30 is great...

Yesterday was a wonderful day. I woke up early and walked on the beach with my mom at Butterfly Beach. It was beautiful and perfect weather. Then we went to brunch at Pierre LaFond up in Montecito. After lunch we went downtown for some shopping at Paseo Nuevo. I layed about for an hour or so with my new bathing suit (gift from my husband) and then got ready for dinner. The house we rented is so close to the Montecito Cafe that we were able to walk!! Dinner was amazing as I expected. I had my usual from there - spinach fettucine with chicken and sun dried tomatoes. After dinner we came back to the house for cheesecake and coffee and to open a few gifts. What a beautiful day! It doesn't get much better than that.

10 Reasons I love Santa Barbara

So... we are in Santa Barbara to celebrate my 30th birthday tomorrow. I love it here and thought I should list my top 10 reasons for thinking this place is the bomb...

1. It smells like Eucalyptus leaves and the sea
2. There are trees everywhere
3. You can stand just about anywhere and see the ocean and the mountains at the same time
4. Westmont is here and I just love it there, SO many good memories
5. I love Blenders in the Grass
6. The weather is almost always awesome
7. Walking instead of driving is encouraged
8. I feel God here (not to say God isn't everywhere else too, but for me... He's really here)
9. Even the freeway has an ocean view
10. Life is just a little bit slower than in OC, people move slower, they take just a little more time to stop and smell the roses and you can just feel that when you're here

There are probably 20 other reasons why I love it here but these are some great ones. I am so blessed and thankful to be here to celebrate my 30th. Pics to come later. :)