The California Trip

We came back from California on Sunday, and our bodies are still unsure what time zone to be in. We had a wonderful time visiting with my mom and sister (and Kameron). Instead of trying to write a coherent dialogue with the list of “fun facts” from our trip that I would like to share, I will simply list these aforementioned facts:

• On one of our first days in California, my sister and Kameron took us to the beach at Point Dume. I was able to learn the basic tenants of spear fishing (which I casually wondered if I could do in the North Sea of Scotland), and see a gigantic sand flea. Kameron snorkeled around and found 4 starfish and a sea urchin, all of which we were able to hold. But the highlight for me came when Kameron poked an octopus with his spear-fishing spear and it shot ink at him.

• I had a dietary first while in California: a squid steak sandwich. I would guess that the circumference of the steak would be similar to that of my hand (closed fingered) and about .5 inch thick. I had no idea that the kind of squid that human’s readily eat got so large! Perhaps it was a different species. Regardless, it was delicious.

• My sister took us to Venice Beach (which Kameron described as a Mexican circus, but we didn’t find it to be such), and we are able to see all sorts of sights in addition to the shops that a down-home Indianaian doesn’t usually see: a guy offering to jump on a pile of broken glass for money, a hobo asking for money for the expressed purpose of getting drunk (he sang the song “jingle bells jingle bells time to get drunk” over and over again), to name a few.

• Tim Hunter flew to San Diego to visit with Juliana, and on Thursday they both drove up to Malibu to visit with us. We went out to eat at Malibu Seafood and afterwards hung out at Pepperdine’s Hero’s Garden. Juliana gave me a Scotland pin, which I now treasure.


• Alexandra (aka Alex), one of our very good friends from Taylor University, flew down from San José to visit as well. She came with us to the Getty Museum (see below) and generally rocked the west coast with us.

• The Getty: a very nice museum. It has free admission and some really fantastic and famous works. I personally enjoyed the pre-1600s work and the ridiculously old stuff. They had ornate medieval psalters that had little headsets you use to listen to the specific psalm being sung. They also had a bust of a bust of a roman emperor that was dated c150 B.C. (if I remember correctly), and some Greek pottery from the 4th century B.C.

• Our trip was particularly providential/well-timed in regard to the fact that it corresponded to my mom’s birthday. Katy, Corrie, Alex, and I stayed up late one night, after my mom went to bed, to bake her a surprise birthday cake. While as a general rule I get a kick out of such sneaky behavior, the real joy came in being able to spend that time with my mom and sister.


• The final fun-fact I’ll mention here is that the airplane we rode home on was built in 1986. Now, I am a little bit of a skittish flier, so this fact reduced my comfort level a bit. The plane had tube styled TVs in it and big ol’ 80’s style buttons in it.

On all accounts, our pilgrimage to the west coast was a wonderful experience. As we prepare to leave for Scotland these kinds of visits with friends and family are quite dear.

And naturally, we had to include a picture of our little house that went with us to California.

the little house!

well I have been really bad at taking our little green house around.. well I always have it with me, I've just been forgetting to take pictures of it. I remembered, however, while we were driving home from Florida and my brother and I were playing with the camera I have on my computer. Here's where the house ended up...



Now we all know that Mitchell's mouth is huge, but that is using a distortion that the camera does, so don't get too excited to make fun of him for his gargantuan mouth. Anyway.. We're less than a month away from our new home!!!

Well we have experienced many changes over the last few days that I just wasn’t quite ready for. We went to Florida last Friday to visit my mom’s side of the family and the week flew by faster than it’s ever flown before. I began getting a familiar uncomfortable feeling in my stomach toward the end of the week that meant I knew hard things were coming but didn’t want to think about it. I hadn’t considered until this week that this may be the last time I see my grandparents.. may be the last time we gather in their home to spend a week together.. may be the last time I see my family including my sister and her husband until next summer.. I had high hopes for coming home for Christmas, but found myself a little discouraged as I looked at ticket prices and realized there’s a big difference between buying a one-way ticket and a round trip ticket, though I still have hopes prices may go down in the months to come. I just wasn’t ready for those thoughts. Now, I do realize that any day could be the last day I see someone, but I think most people can relate to these feelings even if they may be a little unfounded.

Sometimes you don’t realize how much you love people until you’re saying goodbye with the future unsteady. I am and have been so blessed by my family. My grandparents have been incredibly generous, loving, and hospitable over all the years of my life. Their home was home to us while we visited and they do and have done everything they can to make sure our visit is wonderful. My aunts, uncles, and cousins are so fun to spend time with (even though we always have our moments ☺) and are so loving and thoughtful. My cup runs over! I have never treasured a visit so thoroughly as I did this summer. It meant so much to me to see our family together and enjoying each other..

Oh, not to mention we are now former bird owners. We sent them home with my aunt and uncle to keep for us while we’re in Scotland and that’s sad too. I know that they will LOVE living with my aunt and uncle because they are previous bird owners and my aunt is like a home-making machine.. that woman knows how to care for the residents in her home! So, I’m sure they’ll be very happy.

So, anyway.. Scotland is only a month away and that’s getting scarier as well. But I can’t deny that I am excited. I’m excited to meet all the people we’ve been emailing with.. to see our new home.. to attend our new church and meet our new pastor.. to get involved with that church as much as we can.. to support my husband through his first year of school.. It’s going to be an amazing ride and I am on-my-knees-thankful that I know that my Heavenly Father has gone before us and made our way straight.

a-ma-zing!

do do do doooooo!! (that's a trumpet)





yup.. that's our apartment.. the stone one on the corner. We're pretty sure it's either just the top or just the bottom, not both, but we don't really know. Nice windows, eh? And, yes, that is the cathedral that was destroyed way back when, just a few short steps down the block. It's pretty amazing how God provides. We still have no idea what the inside looks like, but we did hear that we might even be getting a washer AND dryer in our new kitchen - whoa. That has been a dream of mine for quite a while now.. to wash our clothes in our own home.

We really want to thank everyone who has been praying for us. We know there are a lot of you and praise the Lord for how He answers! We're on to the next step now of getting our visas, which should hopefully be much less painful that getting Ian's passport...