los angeles

I've been in LA for 5 days now. I've been having a blast. We came out here for vacation and to celebrate my birthday. Thursday night Dave and I were hanging out in Manhattan Beach waiting for the lovely Emily Morton to meet up. Dave went outside to make a phone call and as I was sitting at the table texting a friend I heard, "hello!" in a familiar voice. The voice was my sister and she had flown in to surprise me for my birthday. I cried, laughed, and was completely shocked. We have really been enjoying ourselves here. Eating good food, shopping, going out, playing tennis, etc. There is lots more to come though, we're heading to San Diego later this week and I get to see my cousin I haven't seen in years. I am very excited about this part of the trip. I have to say that this has by far been the best birthday ever. I have felt so special and loved and nothing compares to that feeling.

I have loved just driving around here. We are surrounded by mountains so everything is completely different. The night life here is crazy. We went out to a place called 24K in Hollywood for my bday. When the bar closed, it seemed like people were pouring out from every nook and cranny. As we drove, every late night fast food joint or restaurant that was open late was PACKED. I mean, there was a line wrapped out the In and Out Burger (where we found ourselves munching on late night burgers). We even sat in traffic at 2:30 AM! The freeway was packed with cars full of people. Everyone has their windows down and people were talking and shouting to people in other cars. 757 has nothing on this.

LA has been lovely and wonderful, but I still dream of NYC. It is spring and the city is gorgeous in the spring. I'm really wanting to plan a trip up there asap. It's only been about a month of so since I've been last but I feel myself craving the culture and energy of the city. I am seriously considering moving in the next few years.

Has anyone heard of Matisyahu? He's a Jewish rapper/reggae artist...I'm not even sure how to describe his music but I love it. He's playing in NYC in July and I would love to go up and catch the show. Anyone want in?

Lots and lots of thoughts...

I have found myself in a really different time in my life. I feel that there are lot of changes coming up and that I'm on the brink of a new revelation in my life, but I couldn't tell you what in the world it is. I find myself being frustrated with the state of my life/job/spiritual walk lately. So therefore I'm hungry for something...but I could not tell you what it is. I find myself digging for knowledge. I'm in the process of reading 2 books right now. One called Blinded by Might: Can The Christian Right Save America? and the second is called Set Apart Femininity. Both have been good reads so far. I also feel tired of the Christian bubble I've been in. My heart is still the same; I still have the same drive and insatiable desire to see people experience the love and grace of God. I want to do my part to help those in emotional pain and need because I was there once and it sucks. I found my healing and I want to see others find the same. But the thing is that now as my walk with God has matured and deepened...I find myself wanting deeper knowledge. I'm not satisfied with "being fed milk". The church I attend is very seeker friendly and it does a great job reaching people who are in the middle of terrible times in their lives. Honestly, amazing things really do go on there. But I just can't shake the feeling that I just need more. I have lots of thoughts concerning this area and this has been brewing inside me and I'm just starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together now. More to come.

A lot of you hate on cats, but my cat was cracking me up tonight. He got in a crazy mood and was chasing a tennis ball around the kitchen like a crazed kitty. It was cute.

I saw a new video my friend Tad just posted on his facebook. His company is starting to do some CAT promotions and after watching the video I thought about how awesome he is and how much I miss him! Talk about being someone who is ACTUALLY doing something to show the love of Christ to others. He's a selfless workaholic who has given up much of his own personal agenda to provide for the needs of others. So inspirational!

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/cnn-hero-at-fargo-flood/591105574

This is an older video that was out in January for CNN Heroes of the year. I couldn't get the address of the new CAT video.

Me and Tad in NYC just a couple of weeks ago.




Tomorrow, I'm having coffee with the lovely Laura Rowe who has become like a mentor to me and I can't wait to run all the things by her that have been on my mind. Then I'll be making a budget plan so I can debate my salary when I got in for my job interview on Friday! Yay!