Livin' in the OC...

A few weeks ago I happened upon a new area of open space that exists in Orange County. I've never seen it before, didn't know it was here. I went on a school visit to the Waldorf School of OC and this is right across the street from the school. Its great, hiking trails, and tons of open space. I was excited so I took a few pictures so I could show Brent. What I didn't really notice that day is the brown haze on the horizon. It's pretty nasty...

You can almost see a line where the sky goes from brown to blue... sad!

So I had to work this morning (Saturday) because Nanci Bell (Lindamood-Bell's CEO, founder, and author of several of our programs) was speaking. We did a live video conference so we could all see and hear her at the same time all across the country in all of our centers. It is pretty amazing what is possible these days! Anyway... on my way over the hill into Newport this morning I had to catch my breath as I caught a glimpse of the mountains!!! It was truly awesome. It has been raining here for several days so that haze in the pics above is totally gone and you can actually see what's there. It's incredible. I was instantly SO thankful for living here. I take it for granted (how could I not when I've lived here most of my life). Sadly it is SO rare to see the mountains like this. After my event I drove around Irvine to get to higher ground in order to get some better pictures of this truly rare sighting in OC. It's beautiful.

This is just around the corner from my office... the mountains are just beaming! You can NEVER see this on a regular day.

That is John Wayne Airport... the mountains look like they are exploding up right behind the airport. I drive this way EVERYDAY and I have never seen it like this!

A view from higher ground... thank you GOD!

I feel like we are looking at a completely different city, like Salt Lake or somewhere in Colorado. This can't be Orange County... but it is... today at least!
I know it's unsafe but I couldn't stop taking pictures while I was driving. I just kept getting surprised by these mountains... they are so beautiful against that perfect blue sky.

It's just one of those rare, amazing days here. I know most of the country thinks we have perfect weather all the time. And in comparison, thats mostly true. And I am thankful. But we haven't had a lot of rain here in a few years so we haven't had one of these days in a long time... where the rain clears away all the smog and it is crystal clear and sunny. It is like nothing else. I'm sure those in snowy parts of the country feel this way after a storm and the first sunny days comes. Its great!

When I drove back into Ladera I had to stop again for some photos. The rain and sunlight has done some amazing things with all the hills around here, everything that has been brown and dead for a long time is turning bright green! This is Crown Valley Parkway which leads into Ladera Ranch.

Saddleback Mountain - SO clear today!

And the sky... oh the sky... its SO blue and clear... obviously, I love it!

Thank you God for the beauty of this day... I am grateful and amazed!

Hangin' with Grandma June!

On Thursday we took Grandma June to see the show, "Forever Plaid", at the Curtain Call Theater in Tustin! It was her Christmas gift from us.

We got to the theater around 6:30 for dinner, which was surprisingly yummy. Brent had salmon, Grandma had a large steak and I had pasta. Before the show started this magician came around to entertain us. He was pretty good other than his fire trick which was just too obvious.

It was fun to spend some time with just Grandma. She loved all the music as it is all from the 50s, she knows every word! The show was a bit different than the other time I saw, and different from the ones she saw in Las Vegas. But overall it was pretty good. They are hoping to get "Guys and Dolls" there next!

Pacific Beach for our Anniversary

We had so much fun celebrating our actual anniversary on January 10th with Sushi and Fondu. But we also like to get away and talk about all that has happened in the previous year, thank God for all those things, and then talk about what we are dreaming for and asking God for in the coming year. So this year we went to this little hotel in Pacific Beach that I have been to in the past. Before we were married I went on an "alone retreat" over spring break. I went to this hotel and stayed for 3-4 days by myself just to pray and be alone. It was awesome! I loved it that time and it was wonderful again!

This is the beach right in front of the hotel...

There is a great boardwalk that runs along the backside of the hotel and along the water. There are all kinds of hotels. apartments, restaurants and shops along the way. We went for a walk just after we arrived so I could show Brent the area.

When we arrived we were upgraded to a Junior Suite! It was HUGE and quite luxurious. We were very thankful!

We thought about going downtown for dinner to a place my friend Liz recommended but ended up not wanting to get in the car again. So we walked along the boardwalk to this little restaurant that the concierge recommended at the hotel. It was great and we had a nice dinner together.

Brent freaking loves VOSS sparkling water these days and the restaurant had it!!!

Our walk home was quite misty, but really cool. Brent "met" this guy along the way. Given his *LOVE* for pelicans he had to stop and shake his hand!

We awoke to the most beautiful day on Sunday and went for another walk! It is just gorgeous there on the beach.

We walked along the beach and ended up underneath the pier which was really cool. I will try to upload the video later. It was so cool in there.

I always think these signs are so funny... the little man is getting crushed by large boulders. There were NO boulders here!

Before we left we went back for a better photo with Mr. Pelican. He was dressed in his Sunday Best for us, a tuxedo!

We thought this was amazing... a trolley car ON the freeway. Is that supposed to happen? I thought they were attached to cables on the street - phony!

After going downtown for lunch we headed back to OC and stopped in San Clemente for Coffee Bean! It was there that we finally got to talking about the good stuff that we wanted to talk about. It turned out to be one our best days of marriage in 4 years! It was awesome. God was so good to us in meeting us there, helping us really connect, and talk about these bigger things. We couldn't be more grateful for that rare and special gift.

Commuter Life

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I (Brent) currently have the commute to end all commutes. Daily I embark upon an epic voyage which spans the greater part of Southern California. Yesterday, I attempted to take the train(s).

Here are the details of my journey:

I woke up at 4:45 AM got ready and left my house at 5:36 head to the train station to catch the 5:56 AM train. I was about 5 minutes earlier than I needed to be.

Then, after a 50 minute train ride, I had to hoof it over and hop on a bus in Norwalk that would take me on a 20 minute ride to get me to the next train station. Then I took that train about 30+ more minutes and got off right outside the gate where I work. Got into my office at 7:55 AM.

Then, walking out of my office at 5:00 PM, I repeated my steps on the way home (the return trip, however, featured an incident where I was required to physically pry the back doors of a Norwalk Transit bus open and sprint with all the might that my 30 year old legs could muster) and I arrived to our house again at 7:15 PM.

Needless to say, I don't believe I will be making a habit of taking the train. So, looks like I will still be getting up before the farmers and driving the 5 to 405 slot.

But, I am actually feeling great about where I am. My Father is doing a great work in me that I am only barely beginning to peer into though this season of my life. So, I am grateful that this is in my life right now. James got it.

And, my beautiful, thoughtful wife, got me the Bible Experience, it's a dramatized version of the entire Bible on MP3's. Today, I listened to Genesis and I was enthralled. It is amazing to listen as the Word comes alive. It sure helps when the Spirit breathes on it too.

Z

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4 years of marriage...

it was our 4th wedding anniversary on thursday! 4 years we've been married now! we are heading down to pacific beach in san diego today for a little get away. on thursday night we celebrated with sushi and more fondue (homemade this time) at our house. it was YUMMY! we love the tnt roll from a little place near our house called "Sushi Z" (appropriate for the Zs i think). it's been four years and in someways that seems not long at all, but when i think about all the life that has been lived in these 4 years i am truly amazed by God's goodness and love for us. He has done so much. we are different, more loved by Him. He is good, really good. we are looking forward to getting away tonight and enjoying sunny san diego. we are starting a book of rememberances this year... writing down all the big and small things that we are thankful for from this year. i can't wait to do it. pics to follow later i'm sure. :)

La Fondue... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Tonight we went to La Fondue for dinner. As previously stated in my 100 things post, the last time we ate at this restaurant was my favorite meal of all time. Several years ago we happened upon this restaurant when walking around Saratoga, CA, a small city we stopped in on our way to San Francisco. We ate the most beautiful meal there and had the greatest time. A couple of years later we hear that La Fondue is building one more restaurant... and it just happens to be in San Juan Capistrano. We've always wanted to go, and tonight was the night. This one is just as great and once again we had an amazing meal together. Fondue is the greatest.

First, you start with a salad. After the salad comes the cheese fondue. We opted for the Blue Tomato cheese tonight. Incredible!

I enjoyed my shirley temple.

After the cheese comes the entree. We chose to grill our meats rather than boil them. We had shrimp, Filet Mignon, wild duck, cajun fish, calamari steak, and teriyaki sirloin. We grill each piece for 2-3 mins on each side and then...

... dipping sauces!

Brent finished all the meat... I just couldn't go on because I knew the best part was coming last, the chocolate. No photos of this sadly, I was so excited to eat it and it was so yummy that the camera never even came out during this part of the night. We were there for almost 3 hours. It was amazing. We had good conversation and great food. I love going on dates with my husband!!!

Just across the street from the restaurant we spotted this beautiful tree all lit up in this small park. We had to stop, it was really beautiful. This nice old man who was talking a dog named "Ricky" stopped to snap a shot of us in front of the tree.

Thank you to Brent's parents for my cute new jacket... I loved wearing it on our date!

Happy Saturday to all and to all a good night...

Bandera

...is my favorite restaurant in Orange County. I was planning to have dinner with Marci just after Christmas to exchange gifts and my parents asked us to join them with my brother for dinner. Marci hadn't seen Todd in a long time so we decided to join them. I tried to spend as much time with my brother as I could while he was home. Even thought it was almost 2 weeks that he was here, it went by really fast, as usual. We had a great dinner... as always I had the queso dip and the macho salad. What could be better?

Brent had fun taking pictures of the chefs cooking the food. Its really cool that it's an open kitchen like that.

New Years...

New Years Eve
was mellow this year. Brent took down Christmas lights at my parents, I watched the Law and Order marathon (which I LOVED), my mom was filling up her new iPOD with all the songs she loves, and I Todd and my dad went for a big hike. We watched the ball drop at midnight (minus my mom who could not stay awake during Nacho Libre). The boys went in the hot tub and I went to bed. Brent and Todd were up until 3am talking in the spa. Amazing. We really just wanted to spend some time with Todd before he left to go back to Redding. He had not been home in a year. It was SO great to see him. I loved spending time with him and hearing about his life. I can't wait to visit him in Redding in the next couple of months!

This is my parents new cat... Gloria. My dad calls her Glo (f course), reminiscent of "Flo" which he used to call my cousin Laura. Anyway, this is a great cat. She was rescued from the fires in Corona area by my mom's friend. They couldn't keep her because they have three dogs so my parents took her in. And she is just great. She loves people, is VERY calm, and was comfortable in their home right off the bat.

New Years Day
consisted of USC football and bocce. We had a bunch of people over to watch the game and have lunch. My parents got mexican food for all the enjoy and a bocce tournament was a must. Elizabeth and I lost miserably to G and Cody. It was a sad day. But the game was fun, not too much noise out of Trojan Ted because 'SC killed Illinois. Brent won two times in the "numbers game" so we came home with $35. It was big! Don't worry, we won't spend it all in one place. :) Brent and I left soon after everyone else because I had to go to work on Wednesday. But it was a fun day and a good time was had by all!

The saddest part was that we had to say "goodbye" to Todd right after the game. He left for Santa Barbara and in a few days, back to Redding. He was home for 2 weeks! What a treat. Brent and I are already missing him and feeling the loss. But we look forward to more time together in 2008. We are planning to be in Redding in May for his graduation from 2nd year at Bethel.