I Spy a Varmint!

Last week, my yard looked like this:

This week, my yard grew speed bumps:

Today, I looked him in the eye:

It's on!

A dinner to remember...

Do you ever have those moments in life where you pause and wonder to yourself, "Is this really happening?" Tonight, I had one of those moments. Ian and I were invited by the Brindley Family over for dinner. They were hosting a dinner for Jack Hanna, a family friend, and invited us to come.

Back Story: A little over ten years ago I put in an application at the San Diego Zoo. It was my childhood dream to work there and I was an 18 year old applying for a job at gift shops to get my foot in the door. Immediately after the interview I was wondering around the zoo and I saw Jack Hanna filming for a TV show in front of an exhibit. Being the fan, I waited for the interview to be done and then I went up to him and told him that "I loved your work." He was very gracious and asked me what I was doing? I told him I just interviewed for a position at the zoo, but it was nothing fancy, just the gift shops. He responded, "There is nothing wrong with that! The president at the ______ zoo actually started out selling popcorn in the entrance. If you work hard you will get there."

From that moment on, I always had great respect for that man. He was a person that was known all over the world, spoke on numerous tv shows, and he took a single moment to be kind and encourage "a nobody" who had a dream. I thought to myself that is just incredible!

Well, that brings us to dinner tonight. Knowing this story, the Brindley Family was so wonderful to invite us to dinner.


It was so much fun and just felt like a big family dinner. Of course, I had to tell Jack my story of how kind he was to me at our first meeting. He responded by saying, "It's really not that hard to be kind to people." You see, he doesn't put on a celebrity persona, he really is that caring person! It was fantastic to just spend time with a great family and a great guy. He told stories and was just fun to be around! He has a great heart not only for animals for for people all over the world, especially in Rwanda. It was just a fantastic night and we will never forget it.

Christmas Decorations begin...

After three years of putting Christmas lights on a railing in front of our apartment, Ian got on the ladder and found himself climbing on the roof to put up the first of our Christmas decorations. Give us a few more weekends and a couple more strands of lights and it may look like something this:

Thanksgiving Week Chores

Monday, my dad and I chopped down the bush cherry trees in front of our yard. They had some sort of bug that was killing them. We then loaded up the truck three times full of debris. That still left a front yard full of branches and leaves from bushes that haven't been touched in four years.

So today, Ian and I raked them all up and made another truck load. While raking, I came across this scary bug:



Turns out it is called the Jerusalem Beetle that it lives in South California and feeds off dead vegetation. This is a a picture found online because when I came back to show Ian the beetle, it was gone. He found it later on our back porch and well, most of it is still there after he stepped on it.

Houses are lot of work but we truly are so thankful for this home!

The Living Room

Notice the sweet puppy in the corner laying in the sun. Darby is finally settling in well. Again, the only thing done in this room was paint and carpet cleaning. If you are looking for good carpet cleaning check out Christian Brothers. They are great!

The Bathroom

The reason why I am super excited about this one is because the medicine cabinet in the "after" picture is actually the medicine cabinet from the downstairs bathroom. This is my rendition of TLC's "Design on a Dime." My show is called, "Design with just a quart of paint."

The Dining Room

I love the difference paint can make. The color on these walls is "Thunder Bay." We are very thankful that the furniture we already had fits perfectly. We will be looking at window treatments in the next couple of weeks.

The Kitchen

This is our first before and after series. The kitchen wall color is "Bagel" and put on with a ragging technique. The ceiling color is "Cherry Cobbler" and took about two gallons! The color of the beam across the top is "Chocolate Sprinkles." The paint colors were picked out before we realized the names all had to do with food. So there it is: our very own Mediterranean Kitchen.

Things learned:
1. If you are painting with a dark color on a white wall/ceiling use color primer.
2. A thicker roller carries more paint and puts the paint on thicker.
3. Carry a wet rag with you as you paint to wipe those pesky drips.
4. Painting is always more fun with a friend (thanks Louise!!)

Things I find while unpacking boxes...

After a few surprising finds, I have decided to post the things I would not expect to find (but did) while unpacking in our new home.

Here is the first:



Nunchucks! They may be plastic but who knew we owned nunchucks? Apparently, when confronting Ian, I learned these were from a "Ninja Party" we went to a few years ago. My only question is "how did I miss these when packing up the boxes?"

Sacramento or Bust!

After spending three nights in our new home, we headed out of town to a Hyatt in Sacramento for a week. Youth Specialties Convention Season is here! I got to attend the convention as a volunteer while Ian, well, it's his job. Besides a great convention, a few of the highlights included:

1. The view from our room.


2. A great visit with Ian's aunt, uncle, and cousins at their home, also known as the Double Decker Ranch.


3. A visit to the California Capitol Building.


No Governor sightings on this trip, but our attempts took us to his office where we met a security officer who let us know he was out of town.

A fantastic trip, but we are so glad to be back in our home!!

A new home...the adventure begins!

Thanks to so many gracious people, we were able to move our entire apartment into our new home on Saturday. We are seriously so thankful for each person because the move itself only took three and half hours!! I would say that is a record.

We absolutely love the house! Darby still has some getting used to it, but that will come with time.

Although we have only been in the house for three nights, I have already learned a few things about being a new homeowner:

1. There needs to be an understanding with the current tenants.
For the first two days, when I walked into the front door, I also walked through a thick spider web. The spider finally realized that is was the door I preferred to walk through so if it wanted to keep it's masterpieces, it needed find another door.
Also, the Praying Mantis that I have named "Pete" (not Peetie, or Peter, just Pete) likes to be left alone as he perches on our porch light in the mornings.


When taking this picture, he did a hissing/chirp thing that made me believe he wasn't going to move and so I needed to accept that.

2. It's going to take time to get to know each other.
When in a new relationship everything is a new discovery. I have made a few discoveries already. There are switches that when turned on, don't appear to do anything, although they are doing something somewhere. There are creeks under certain stairs and not others. What may appear to be secure, might fall off with the wrong amount of pressure is applied.

As we get to know this house, it will get to know us and we are so excited for it to become a wonderful home. I can already tell it is going to a fantastic adventure!!!

Ian's film project update:

During the last eight months, Ian has successfully completed eight short films. Being that he still has a full time job, a ministry he volunteers for, and a wife, the task of writing, directing, and editing each film has not been an easy one. The experience and process though, has been invaluable to him.

Last week, "The Mystery Box", the first film of the year, was accepted to be screened at the San Diego Film Festival. It will be showing Thursday, September 25th at 5:00pm and Friday, September 26th at 2:30pm. If you are interested in attending either of these showings, $10 tickets can be purchased here beginning September 15th.

Four films remain to be made this year, each of a different genre. To watch for updates of the status of these films check out 12filmsin12months.com.

Home Owners...almost!

To celebrate our anniversary, Ian planned a fun day of visiting the same spots we spent on the day we got engaged. We were going to tour some boats docked downtown and visit some museums at Balboa Park. Dinner at Wahoos Fish Tacos and watching the sunset off the cliffs in La Jolla was also on the schedule.

Plans changed when we decided to put an offer on a house we went to see the night before. An hour after putting in that offer we were accepted to be the proud owners of an amazing house in La Mesa.



This process has been a whirlwind! We are still a little over a month away before we get the keys but in the meantime we are in awe and so incredibly thankful! As we go through this process, we just ask for prayers that everything goes smoothly.

Four Years Ago on a Beautiful Summer's Day...

We got married!!!

So much life has happened during those short four years, and we wouldn't change a minute of it!

The Competition has Begun!

Ever since we got married, Ian and I have had an understanding: working out together is not an option. The primary reason is my competition issues. When we run together, play video games together, or play any game at that matter, I really want to win! This desire sometimes causes tension between us so we just don't. Over the years, I have definitely seen results in the lack of doing anything. For health reasons I have been wanting, no, needing to do SOMETHING.

Well this week we found that something. Wii Fit! The Wii Fit balance board comes with an exercise games such as Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobic, and Balance. The board monitors your weight, BMI, and every movement you make during the exercises. If you complete the exercise correctly, you get more points. The more points you get, more games unlock and you play longer.

Our current morning workout routine: Ian wakes up early and works out. I wake up when he leaves for work and beat his scores. This is what I think is the true meaning of "healthy competition!"

A Day at Paramount

Friday was a fantastic day! To celebrate Ian's birthday season and inspire him for his 12 films project, we took a train to Union Square and then took a cab to the front gates of Paramount Pictures. Our friend Jamie (who was also celebrating a birthday season) took us to meet a friend Brent who works as prop master on the set of "Everyone Hates Chris." He was so gracious to let us intrude on his work day and show us around.

We heard that Paramount was smaller than Warner Brothers Studio, where we had a great experience last year. Could anything be better than getting to go on the Gilmore Girls set? We didn't know what to expect. The experience on Friday though, was by far not a disappointment. Everyone we met on the set was so incredibly kind and welcoming. The first thing we did is get to go a set where they were filming an episode. This filming was not on a live audience studio, so we found a corner on the set and watched on the sidelines. The person who was in charge of sound on the set came up to us and gave us each headsets so we could hear all of the dialogue loud and clear.

An incredible moment for me was realizing who the director was of this episode. Before I knew it, I was just a few feet away from Debbie Allen. If you were a "Fame" fan as I was growing up, you will understand my excitement. Her resume also includes many Broadway Shows and numerous other tv shows. Yes, when she was counting off "5,6, 7, 8.." in her choreographing voice, I was star-struck.

Brent then needed to do a run to the prop house and we got to tag along. It was fantastic! First we had to return a prop gun. The gentleman behind the counter asked if we wanted him to show us around. OF COURSE! We went into the first room where it was filled with hand guns of so many different eras. We held the ones used in Pirates of the Caribbean and then he handed me the one that Angelina Jolie used in Laura Croft. This type of tour is not something I would have expected to be excited about, but it was incredible to see the historical knowledge these people had and dedication they put into safety for the people on movie sets. They even designed guns for movies like Transformers and Star Trek. We then wondered around the warehouse of every prop you could imagine. It was so much fun and we were so thankful for that tour!

The end of the day as Brent took us around the back lot to show us a few more things. We ran into one of the stars from the show, Terry Crews, who plays the dad on the show. His resume includes many movies and tv shows as well. I was so impressed by his kindness. After a long day shooting, he stopped to talked to us for a while, posed for a picture, and was willing to sign an autograph for one of my middle schoolers.



At the end of the day we needed to catch a train back to San Diego. This meant racing to our cab hoping to void some La traffic. We made our train with 12 minutes to spare! It really was an amazing day for us!

Back in 'Dodge'

Back from an AMAZING time in the mountains. Mount Laguna is definitely one of San Diego's best kept secrets. Only 45 minutes away and 10 miles off highway 8, you can feel completely secluded in nature.

We booked three nights at Laguna Mountain Lodge. A bit rustic, but we got a great deal on a detached one bedroom cabin that had a living room, a kitchenette, and a full size bathroom. All bedding and towels are provided! They also allow dogs, which was great that we could bring Darby along for the adventure.

Although we had cell service, free wi-fi, and a TV in our room, we intentionally made the decision to go 'screen-free' this weekend.

So this is what we did without cell phones, internet, or tv:

1. SLEPT. Although the first night was a bit rough with Darby pacing the floor and me fearing there might be mountain bugs crawling on me, the next night we all slept like a log. Multiple daily naps were also in the schedule!

2. HIKED. Friday and Saturday we woke up, had our breakfast, packed some PB&J sandwiches, and hit the trails. Today we were determined to make it to Big Laguna Lake. When we finally got there, it was full of cows. Seriously!



The only other issue, it that we have an urban dog. She would run ahead to find a patch of shade under a tree and then lay there until we caught up. It was a bit exhausting and funny to watch.



After a couple trees we would then give her a little refreshment.



3. READ. Ian brought "The Hobbit" and a film making book. I brought "The Shack" to finish. It have to admit, it was a little crazy to finish that book in a cabin that looked a lot like a shack. On a side note, loved the book! I would recommend it just to get one thinking about how they view God in their life. Then I after prepping some more for Sunday's talk, I started "The Hobbit."

4. LEARNED HOW TO LIGHT A CHARCOAL BBQ GRILL. Really where does one learn this stuff when they grow up with gas grill? Ian and I looked like quite the city folks drowning our coals in lighter fluid when our kind neighbor (after complimenting our dog) let us know you really don't need all that and the coals will eventually turn white and then you can cook.

So there you have it. Our spontaneous weekend getaway. Totally recommend it!

Heading out of Dodge

Ian and I just decided today to book a couple nights at a cabin in Mount Laguna. This comes from us realizing that we have two days off in a row together. He finished his 6th film last night and I was away at camp all last week so we are packing up (including Darby) and heading out of town tonight! No computers, no cell phones, just the three of us wandering around the mountains.

Nature in the Big City of La Mesa!

Ian came in from taking Darby out to tell me there was a snake in our drive way. Being that I actually had a few snakes in my childhood (Gladdess the faithful gardener snake may you rest in peace) I was stoked! I never expected snakes to be roaming our apartment premises. So we ran out there with our camera. We stood in amazement as the snake laid there basking in the sun. It continued to lay there. Then it laid there a little bit longer. I leaned to Ian and said, "I never remember my snakes having their mouth open for that long." So my brave husband nudged it with his shoe only to find no resistance. The roaming king snake decided he had roamed enough and passed away in our drive way. We said a few words about roaming a goodlife and then Ian put it in a bag and put it to rest. We called our manager to let her know and she was so thankful. Apparently our dear friend had been seen around and she was worried because she couldn't anyone to take it away. I guess that is the circle of life here in the big city.

Alpine's Best Kept Secret

Last weekend my friend Lisa and I took her kids and my niece to The Fairy Festival in Alpine. Lisa was the one that had heard about it and being that my niece loves fairies, it seemed liked a fun idea. We dressed the girls in their fairy outfits and headed to Summers Past Farms in Flinn Springs. If you are a native San Diegan and don't have a clue where I am talking about, it's okay, neither did I. Another way of saying it is get on 8 east and then take the Harbinson Canyon exit, follow the Old 80 Hwy, and pay attention to the addresses on the left hand side.

I have to admit, I had no idea what to expect. I had visions of my neice and Lisa's kids being the only ones there. Boy, was I wrong. Soon hundreds of little fairies with their parents came walking in. Cars were lined up along Hwy 80. It was quite the frenzy.

We starting by walking around and looking at the fairy gardens. Kids and adults have the opportunity to submit their own fairy garden that they created to be judged.



Then, they gather all of the kids and formed a parade in which the Fairy Godmother lead the kids through the gardens. The Fairly Godmother then gathers the kids onto the grassy area and tells them a story. After that, since we didn't buy tickets to the garden tea party, we decided to leave. I was really surprised by how many families came. This is an annual event so next year we may get the tickets to the tea party.

Overall, it was a fun experience. Summer's Past Farms have monthly activities there showcasing the beautiful gardens they have. If you are interested check out their website here http://www.summerspastfarms.com/fairygardens.htm

We ended our day eating our packed lunches at the Lake Murray. It was a fun day.

Dinosaurs!

On the way home from an amazing staff retreat in Palm Springs today (which I will blog more about later) we decided to stop at the Cabazon Dinosaurs. Ian had never been so we took the Cabazon Exit and declared it time for an adventure.


Much to my surprise, there have been a lot of upgrades since my last visit ten years ago. First of all, there is a museum now with robotic dinosaurs. There is a huge covered sand area where you (kids and adults) can dig to try and find a piece of quartz. Bring the quartz to the gift shop and get a prize.

There is also a place to mine for precious stones where Ian found a sharks tooth and I found a little ruby.



It was seriously so much fun. There was also an addition of about ten other dinosaurs you could follow a trail and see.

The other thing we noticed were signs explaining creation with references from the Creation Institute and reasons on why it is important to believe in God. We went back into the gift store and asked the women inside about them. It turns out the dinosaurs are now owned by a Christian couple that lives in Orange County and the people working inside attend their church, Calvary Chapel in the OC. Who knew those dinasaurs were apart of a ministry!!

Anyways, you can check out their website at http://www.cabazondinosaurs.com. For us it was worth the stop!

'Living Robertson'

Watched a short clip of a new show 'Living Lohan' last night and realized that will not be a show that I will be getting addicted too. It is basically about a mom looking for ways to promote her teenage daughter while scrutinizing websites and magazines complaining about bad press and the poperazy. Just not something that intrigues me.

Though today I experienced a bit of the 'ole poperazy myself. I took Darby out to do her business this morning. As I was walking to the grassy area I noticed out of the corner of my eye, three men running behind the bushes. When I turned to look at them, they were standing tall which their camera phones pointing straight at me. I kept walking cautiously realizing that I left my cell phone in the apartment. Then I hear their laughs and giggles. At that moment looked down to make sure I didn't forget any appropriate clothing articles when I hear the word "gigante." The sudden attention and cameras had nothing to do with me (at least I hope) and everything to do with 'Darby the Giant.'

I guess I have more in common with Dina (mom of the Lohan's) than I thought. I may have to add to my daily routine searching the internet and reading trash-talk magazines to make sure no one is misrepresenting my little girl.

think...play...create

The children's museum in downtown San Diego just reopened. My 6 year old niece and I went down there a few weeks ago and it was incredible.



First of all you can't beat the price. $10 is the admission price with the only down fall being that it does not include parking. If you decide not to pay $10 for their parking or arrive late and it is full, the next closest 'deal' is Horton Plaza. That was the path we took, but the walk back after a few hours at the museum is tough on a six year old's little legs.

When we arrived arrived to the front patio I knew it was going to be great. There was an old Volkswagen Bug with a dozen children surrounding it with globs of paint in their hands just smearing it all over. Walking throughout the museum spurs on creativity. Every exhibit allows kids to create something. There is a clay area where the kids get to take home whatever they form. There is an area where they can make a shadow puppet using just paper and popsicle sticks. This is an empty room that has projectors showing action underwater scenes onto the walls.

My personal favorite was the 10 minutes in the 'pillow room.' There was a room that was lined from the floor to the ceiling with mattresses and tire pillows for the kids to crawl in or throw. It was fantastically chaotic.



If you know a young kid or want to check it out yourself, it it definitely worth in my book. I wouldn't take more than child in at a time just because you may be tempted to express yourself as well.

For more info about the museum check out their website at http://www.thinkplaycreate.org/

a picture is worth a thousand words...

Ian: What a nice picture you are drawing.
Caitlyn: Do you know why I am drawing a picture?
Ian: Why?
Caitlyn: To give you time to think of somewhere fun to take me.

Cheese Puffs vs. Cupcakes

The last few weeks we have had our 6 year old niece stay with us on Friday Nights. It has been fun because we bring her to church and she really enjoys the children's program. Tonight, in effort to get her to finish her dinner and detour her from asking for snack foods, I told her I would give her five cheese puffs if she was good at church tonight. It worked! She ate the rest of her dinner.

Nothing was mentioned about those cheese puffs on the way to church so I thought I might be off the hook for later. While I was working a student ministries table, Ian went to pick her up and had this closing conversation with the children's pastor:

Children's Pastor: Earlier tonight you said you really liked something?
Caitlyn (yelling of course): CHEEEESE PUUUFFS!
Children's Pastor: More than cupcakes?
Caitlyn: CHEEESE PUFFS ARE BETTER THAN CUPCAKES!!

So we came home, gave the kid 6 cheese puffs, watched "Yo Gabba Gabba" and called it a night!

"Shoe Repairs"

I have never entered a pizza place because I saw a guy spinning an arrow. I have never been drawn to go see a condo for sale because someone had the ability to break-dance while waving a sign. I have never bought a cell phone because someone waved "hello" to me on a street corner. I have always been entertained by them (at least most of them) but not really motivated to make a u-turn and follow the arrow. Today that changed.

I was driving near San Diego State today and genuinely wished I had a pair of shoes that needed to be repaired. On the corner was an elderly man holding a piece of cardboard that had the words "shoe repairs" spray painted on it. Just across the parking lot from him was a little shop with the same simple title, "Shoe Repairs." That shop has been there since I can remember. In fact, I did a little research on this shoe repair store and learned it had been there since 1950's. I found an old article in the San Diego Tribune referencing the little shop when discussing the development plans for the "collegetown" that is on the books for San Diego State. Here is a clip:

Not so lucky is Pablo Serrano.

For 25 years, he has run Pablo's Shoe Repair on Montezuma Place, in a little shop that has housed a cobbler for the campus community since the 1950s. Though he repairs all the nice shoes of the big shots at the university, that doesn't give him any sway. He still faces eviction, and he says he has been unable to persuade the developers to make room for him in the new urban village.

"I talked to the guy, but he says they don't need a shoe-repair shop," said Serrano.

Still, he's not panicking, or for that matter, packing.

Gentrification has been threatening to shove aside College Area businesses like his for as long as he can remember. Yet he's still there hammering away, fixing SDSU President Stephen Weber's shoes, he says, as he did the presidents before him, and the footwear of deans and professors.

So why the tug on the heart strings? Why this man and why this sign? I think it is because of what it represented. I have always been a huge advocate for small business owners. When you go into a small business it's personal. You have a window into someone's heart and soul. You are now apart of something that a person worked hard to get. You now get to be apart of someone's dream.

Behind that spray-painted sign was heart. It is hard for me to believe that the young kid spinning the pizza sign has as much pride about his pizza as Pablo has for his craft. I don't know if the elderly man holding the sign was actually Pablo. I don't know how much longer "Shoe Repair" will still be in business. I do know that today he touched my heart by unknowingly sharing part of his story.

Pablo also won free advertising on the "ian and stina blog" ...
If you need "fine shoe or leather repair", go see Pablo at
5120 Montezuma Place, San Diego, CA 92115.
(619)265-8927

To punish or not to punish...

Today, each of us come home to the same senario two different times. We open the hall way door and Darby runs out, not to greet us but to head straight under the dinning room table. Usually she runs under the table when she has done something really bad and is trying to avoid our wrath. We go into the bedroom to find what she has chewed up and then we bring the item(s) out and say, "BAAAAD!" in our harshest tone possible. Today though, there is no evidence. No torn pillow or chewed bed post. The only evidence we have of her doing something "baaad" is the look on her face.



So do we we punish her because in a weird way she is telling us deserves it. Or do we spend the next day or so fearing for what she may or may not have eaten! Oh the days of parenting will take years off of you!

Oh, the life we live!

Ian and I actually had a day off together! The past few Saturdays have been spent with both of us working on different projects so we were stoked when we realized we both had the day off...together! How do we spend the day? Like any other married couple without kids:

First: Wake up waaay late.

Second: Wrestle the 120 pound dog into the bath tub for a way overdue bath!

Third: Go to Sea World and get the Fun Card Pass so now we can go whenever we want! (By the way, right now for the price of a one day pass, you can get a year pass...what a deal!)



Fourth: Play Scrabble against each other on Facebook, on separate laptops of course. This is the only game Christina can play against Ian without getting ferociously competitive.

Fifth: Ian gets to work on editing the "march movie" while Christina charges 6 loads of laundry!

A fantastic Day!

Oooh, this is weather!

I know it is strange for a native San Diegan to have an obsession for weather considering it only ranges about twenty degrees throughout the year. What can I say, I base my daily wardrobe on my meteorological research. But this is an icon I have never witnessed in my entire igoogle existence. What is that on Sunday? How am I supposed to know what to wear based on that? I am so nervous. As someone who has never prepared for "icy", I interpret that to mean, stay home.

Tip of the Day:

Do not keep your cell phone in your back pocket. There is a very good chance it may end up in the toilet. Then you will be forced buy a cheaper pinker version for the remainder of your phone plan.



On the plus side: The 6th grade girls in my small group think I am much cooler now.

Feeling better?

This morning, before we left for church, we decided to put the cone on Darby. This foot wide monstrous plastic thing was given to us (I should say charged to us since it was listed on the very long bill) by the Vet to use if we wouldn't be around to make sure she didn't start licking her wound. When we got home, this is what we found. It was so chewed up, it definitely can't be used again. Quite the different dog than we had last night. Quite the normal dog we are used to. Welcome back Darby!

Bad day at the Dog Park

Today, Ian took Darby to the dog park. She hasn't been in weeks. After being there for only a half hour, something happened. No one is quite sure, except that Ian heard a yelp and Darby came hobbling over to him with an inch square of skin missing from her side. He took her straight to the hospital where she had to be put under and stitched up. The poor thing came home with ten stitches, a cone, and very groggy. Because of her sad state, I broke all the rules today. She gets full access to the couch, no questions asked.

Film #2 Up and Running!!!

Check it out here. Ian finished his second short film of the year!

What can you do?

Really, what would your reaction be if you were on a roller coaster and your five year old niece just told you that she was going to throw up?

12 Hours to Live

In late January, I decided to plant some flowers in the planter we have outside our door. I have had fair success in my previous attempts to have a garden, but figured since I was following the directions exactly, this just may work. Of course, I was very diplomatic when picking the flowers I wanted for the spring. I picked the ones I thought were the prettiest. So to my surprise and excitement I saw the signs of the new life a few weeks later. I watered them daily. I even pinned strings for the vines to grow on to so they would not attach to the building itself. Each morning I wrapped and guided the vines onto the strings. I was quite proud because all of this work seem to pay off.

Just last week, we had our first flower. I woke up one morning before we headed to church to find that a single flower bloomed and was beautiful. I couldn't wait for more. That afternoon when we returned, it was shriveling up. I started ranting and raving about the bugs and other varmints that must be attacking my hard work. Needless to say, the flower didn't make it. The next morning, my anger was subsided because I had two beautiful flowers blossoming. Late that night, they too shriveled up and died.

Now I know these flowers are called Morning Glories, but I thought that was because they bloomed in the morning, closed in the evening, only to reopen the next morning. Nope! The life span of a morning glory flower is only one morning. I had no idea. That is, until I googled Morning Glories.

This got me thinking though. Is it really worth it to put so much work into something that is only going to live for 12 hours? I was tempted to stop watering. Then I looked at these precious flowers and decided that it was essential. They only had 12 hours, but they were so beautiful for those 12 hours. Also, during that time they are being pollinated by bees, humming birds, butterflies and other insects. This is helping life beyond that little flower on my front porch.

So I continue to water, wrap on vines, and take pictures of these temporary sensations while I ponder, what am I going to do in the next 12 hours.

"Honk for Peace!"

Today I was driving home from work when I saw a man on the corner of a major intersection holding a sign that read "Honk for Peace." To be honest, I have never understood the reason for these antics. I mean first of all, do we really need more people honking at intersections. Secondly, what will holding these signs accomplish? Is that really how we will get world peace? People have been pondering this dilemma for generations. Could the solution really be that simple?

Anyways, as I sat waiting to make my right hand turn a few people drove in front of him honking their horn as he waved a peace sign and smiled. The car in front of me must have been distracted by the gentle peace maker because as she made her right turn, she mistakenly cut of the SUV coming through the intersection. This caused the SUV driver to land their hand on the horn for a good three seconds.

The peace maker across the street, hearing the horn and unaware of the near collision, turned around, smiled and gave the peace sign. I have to admit, the irony did make me chuckle. Something inside of me said that SUV driver was not wishing peace on the distracted driver in front of me. But then again, I could be wrong.

2008...so far

Okay, so for us, this year feels like it is going warp speed! You would think, busy means tons of posts, but we have neglected our family post while spending time on our other blogs. For example, Christina is loving her new job at Journey and has been spending her time blogging once a week here. Ian, on the other hand, when not working like crazy on the CORE, is blogging about his film project here. Be sure to check that out and see his January Film. It is a bizarre concept when your life can be summed up with multiple addresses in cyber space. Pretty soon we will be posting in the new abbreviation language students are using these days. JK:) Anyways, life is good, crazy, but good. Just thought we would check in and let you know how things are going...so far.

2008 is Gonna Be Great!

Happy new year everyone! We hope that you had a fantastic New Year's Eve. Ours was pretty low key: we just got some dinner and then watched a movie at home. I know...we're boring. (Although if you want to know why we were so low key, see our last post entitled, "Vacation, sickness, and parenthood, o my!")

Ok, so I know we already announced this, but as of TODAY Christina is officially the Director of Middle School Ministries at Journey Community Church! Hooray for that!

One more bit of fun: Ian just launched a new personal project called "12 Films in 12 Months". He came up with the idea about a month ago to write and produce a 3-5 minute short film each month for an entire year (and decided that 2008 would be that year). He'd been wanting to make a short film or two for a while and this seemed like a good way to get him motivated. The project isn't part of Ian's job or anything. He's still doing media and graphic design at Youth Specialties. The "12 films" project is more of a personal project he'll be working on in his spare time. He's going to be blogging the whole crazy process and you can follow along with him at 12filmsin12months.com.

Happy 2008 to all!!!