.bonus post.

just because i feel like being nice, you get a bonus post tonight. i went to the santa barbara mission on sunday. so here's a virtual tour. of the outside of the mission and the rose gardens. what an awesome place to hang out for bit - and monks live there - REAL monks. impressive? i think so.

and the best part of this story is that i got to spend the afternoon with a friend that i've known since i was a little kid (like 3 or 4 years old). he was in town for work and we hadn't seen each other since we were probably about 14 or 15 and it was so much fun to catch up on life and spend the day wine-tasting, mission-exploring and ice cream-eating. thanks mike, for a fun afternoon and putting up with my iphone app obsession to try to get some good pictures :)

.#11 - photography class.

i realize it's 1AM and i should not be blogging, but instead i should be sleeping. sleep is overrated... and i'm beginning to re-learn that my most productive, best-focused hours are after 10pm, so i'm just capitalizing on that time. my job should thank me for it, or maybe i should thank my job that i have the flexibility to work at midnight and sleep in.

the point of the post is this... i took a photography class a few weeks ago!!! but it wasn't just any photography class, it was a holga class. yes, i said holga, h-o-l-g-a, holga. no, it's not an amazon woman, not it's not a fun name that i came up with because i like to name inanimate objects (which i do). holga is a type of camera that uses film. yes, i said film, like the kind where you have to take the back off the camera and put it in and make sure it catches and then wind it up before you can shoot a picture. and the kind where you can't see the picture after you take it. and the kind where you're dependent on someone else to develop it for you because it requires a dark room and in this case coffee :)

a new santa barbara friend of mine invited me to this holga class on a saturday morning and it was awesome. holga and i met for the first time that day, we are still working on becoming friends. i'm hoping it will turn into a friendship, but right now we aren't sure if we get along. needless to say, it was an awesome day with fun new friends in a BEAUTIFUL place, but as of this moment - i still prefer digital photography or even my new iphone app (hipstamatic) to holga, but i think maybe, just maybe we can work it out.

here's some holga-ness.






now here's your difference between the holga and the iphone. i mean, really, which do you prefer?!?!?



and for the grand finale - the stunningly beautiful place that i live... again, iphone, you do me right...



dear holga, thank you for your saturday morning. i would like to spend more time with you and hopefully we will be better friends soon. i know it takes a while, especially with a girl like me who can tend to be untrusting, a smidge judgmental and a creature of habit. thanks for your patience. we'll work it out. pinky promise.

Some of you may know one of my best friends, Sarah Vyn and others of you may not, but I'm asking if all of you would start praying... and keep praying...

Her brother Kyle is 23 and got married a few years ago to Lindsey. They live in Canada and are such an amazing couple with great faith. Kyle went into the hospital after having a seizure while working and was diagnosed on Sunday with what looks to be inoperable brain cancer. All the doctors who have reviewed his results say there's nothing they can do.

This is devastating news for everyone, but especially for his family - his young wife Lindsey, his parents, his 2 brothers and of course, Sarah & Justin. Sarah & Justin left last night to drive to Canada with both their kids. Sarah plans to stay as long as she's needed to be with her family.

Here's how you can pray:
- Pray for a miracle - pray for the 1% chance that he might get radiation in the coming weeks.
- Pray with faith that God will choose to heal Kyle
- Pray for comfort and peace for those around him
- Pray for the right support for all of them
- Pray that Justin & Sarah's kids (Anna & John) will be a source of joy in a really hard time
- Pray for Kyle, that he'll feel peace and be able to trust God despite this devastating news

Here's Kyle and Lindsey.


I'll keep you updated as I hear more from Sarah. The more prayers the more glory.

Believing that our God is good.

.music mondays - God of justice.

this:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article7054630.ece

was REALLY hard to swallow today. this kind of news makes me long for the second coming of Jesus because i believe whole-heartedly that his return is the day when this kind of violence and inhumanity will cease. i still believe in his promises and have a profound respect for the Christian people in Nigeria. this also puts more fuel in my desire to "go" - to be a person who lives out the Word - feeds the hungry and stands beside the broken because it matters., because it changes lives.

so in light of today's tragedy, music monday boasts one of my favorite songs that motivates me to keep living it out.


"God of Justice" by tim hughes

God of Justice, Saviour to all
Came to rescue the weak and the poor
Chose to serve and not be served

Jesus, You have called us
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give

We must go live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken
We must go
Stepping forward keep us from just singing
Move us into action
We must go

To act justly everyday
Loving mercy in everyway
Walking humbly before You God

You have shown us, what You require
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give


Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out Lord

.music mondays - we all need saving.

well, it's not music monday, it's music tuesday because i was distracted all stinkin' day yesterday and couldn't pull off music monday, but i think it counts because i picked the song on monday and had it all ready in my head. it counts right? it's kinda like being in middle school and doing your homework "in your head" or answering a text message "in your head" but not actually doing it. that's how i roll lately. alot goin' on up there. but better late than never... music monday.

"we all need saving" by jon mclaughlin

Come on, come on
You have got to move on
This is not the you i know
This isn't real
It's just all you can feel
And that's the way that feelings go
And whether or not it's right or wrong you'll do what you will do

When the cloud in the sky starts to pour
And your life is just a storm you're braving
Don't tell yourself you can't lean on someone else
Cause we all need saving sometimes

Say what you will but the time that we fill
While we're on the earth
Should not be alone
We were meant to be known
You make me what i'm worth
But i can't keep you from yourself you'll do what you will do

When the cloud in the sky starts to pour
And your life is just a storm you're braving
Don't tell yourself you can't lean on someone else
Cause we all need saving sometimes

I don't know why it has to be this way and
I don't know the cure
But please believe someone has felt this before

When the cloud in the sky starts to pour
And your life is just a storm you're braving
Don't tell yourself you can't lean on someone else
Cause we all need saving sometimes

this song speaks so deeply of our need for community. our need for people to be "in it" with us. it speaks to the idea that we've all needed support before (and Lord knows we all will again). my favorite line...

"we were meant to be known"

amen to that. so if you're reading this, i urge you to do something today for someone you know needs a little bit of encouragement. ask that friend for coffee, spend an extended amount of time in prayer for them, show up at their house and just sit and listen, be Jesus to someone else because we all need saving sometimes.