A Merry Christmas in LA

This year James and I decided to stay in LA due to the price of plane tickets, recently moving and having no time to settle our things, and well... just being all stressed out.  My mom offered to buy us plane tickets home, and it almost worked out but in the end we decided to stay here, though I was so sad about not being able to see everyone. James and I had also decided to buy our families webcams for christmas. Well...my dad had the same idea! So we're still doing some christmas shopping for my mom, brother, and sister in-law. But the good news is that we were able to hook the webcams up and spend part of Christmas together! I've been able to chat and laugh with my mom, and see the animals as we talked to them from the computer.  On Christams my mom had my aunt, uncle, and grandparents over and I was able to see everyone and have a little bit of Christmas with them in Michigan. It was great to see and chat with everyone, it felt like I was right there! I miss them all a bunch! Another great thing was that we were able to open our presents with our family online so they got to see us open them. It was so neat! We also chatted with James' family on Christmas so we were able to see everyone one the east coase too! It was a very merry Christmas indeed!

Another fun thing that happened this Christmas was that James and the rest of my family kept a great secret and surprised me on Christmas..... strangely enough at chruch the week before Christmas there was a skit forshadowing the whole event...

On the 23rd James picked me up from work. He was really excited about his new hand held video recorder present from Brad and Nicole. He was taping me as I walked to the car. He kept holding it up in my face, while I'm somewhat used to this it was still quite distracting! I got in the car and he was still taping. I reminded him that could "turn the camera off now" as I thought there was nothing very exciting about filming two people sitting in a car. As I'm saying this I'm reaching for my seat belt, which I was having a hard time finding....all the sudden I feel a hand on my shoulder. I'm still trying to get my seat belt on...so I began to tell James to get his hand off of me, when I realized it wasn't his hand. He had both up front... one on the steering wheel and one on his camera. I began to ask just who was behind me, not exactly knowing what to expect. That's when my dad popped his head from the back seat! It was a great surprise!!!! Thanks to all of you who helped to keep it :) 

Here is the video James captured of the surprise....

Christmas Surprise from James Kanka on Vimeo.

What you get for your money in LA

These past two weeks James and I have been moving into our new apartment. I like to think of our place as our little cottage, because that's exactly how it feels. Apartments in LA just aren't the same as they are on the east coast, or probably anywhere else. We're happy with our find. To to have a refridgerator and a washer and dryer in the unit is big deal out here! James and I are also excited to put more of our money in savings as our cottage apt. will assist us in doing just that. Luckily our friends have been a huge help in getting us situated. While we still have piles of boxes to get through and two more rooms to paint...without the help from our friends we wouldn't have been able to move and get things as far along as they are. 

Work has been incredibly busy for both James and I so we've only had the weekend to really get things settled. We've made many trips to Lowes, and are about 60% done with getting everything unpacked. Ughhh....so much left to do....Well anyway here are the first batch of pics of moving in.

Also this past week we went to the E! holiday party. It was wild! It was held at LA Live an outdoor club in the middle of downtown. The sceen inside was a wide range of activity: pool tables, rock band video game, patio area, 2 open bars, dancing, platforms, etc. It was fun to meet more of James' co-workers. But the whole thing reminded me of a more tasteful version of spring break :) James and I had fun dancing! This week is my office holiday party and it will be pretty great if I do say so myself! 

New Place

Good news! We signed on our new apartment and already have the key. We'll begin painting and moving in this weekend! Yay and praise the Lord!!!! Though I'm not looking forward to the actual move...I am looking forward to a new place! I try and post pics as soon as we can. Thanks everyone for your advice and prayers :)

Thanksgiving Weekend

It was great to have Thursday and Friday off this week. Since our lease is up mid December, this weekend we spent a great deal of time looking for and at apartments. Today we found one that we would love to move into. We're filling out the applications now and Lord willing we will have a new place to live! It's a cute little unit, on a lot with only 2 other residences. I was happy it has a refrigerator and laundry!!! (Believe it or not, these features are not always the norm is southern CA.) It's actually only a few streets down from where our current place is, and we really like the area.

On Saturday I continued our thanksgiving tradition by making my grandma's Turkey Soup!!! (It's my favorite soup!) In addition to apartment hunting, we went to the movies. We saw "Bolt" in 3D. It was a great movie and we got to wear nifty glasses!

Feeling Thankful

Thanksgiving was very different this year, as James and I celebrated in CA. We celebrated in our own little way by giving thanks to the Lord for all he has blessed us with this past year. We have so much to be thankful for! James invited some friends from work over to celebrate with us. It was a fun night filled with food, drinks, guitar & harmonica jamming, and of course our favorite...games!

It was also a first for me to cook the whole meal from start to finish by myself. In the past I've often had a lot of help from my mom, she really is a good cook! I also had a lot of great family recipes to assist me. I began the preparations the night before by getting the mashed potato bake ready, and baking the sweet potato pie. The next morning I woke up bright and early to begin the cook off. I began the morning with homemade pie dough, and ended the day with gravy. It was a full day of cooking... but well worth it. Everything turned out great and the best part... no smoke alarm this year! :)

(For those who are actually interested) Here was the Kanka Thanksgiving Menu:
- Turkey
- Nicole's Mashed Potatoes w/ a pinch of Garlic
- Carrots
- Green Beans
- Stuffing
- Candied Yams
- Gravy
- Biscuits
- Sweet Potato Pie
- Whipped Cream
- Apple Pie
- Vanilla Ice Cream

We hope all our friends and family who are far away had a great thanksgiving, you were in our hearts and thoughts. Love you all! Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving :)

Lake House Visit October 08

Better late than never.... In October James and I went to MI for my cousin's wedding and then headed up north to Gaylord, MI to spend time with my family at my brother and sister-in-laws lake house. It was beautiful as the trees were all in color. I can't wait to go back. Here are just a few of my favorites....

From Oct. 08 Lake House Visit

This Weekend

This weekend James and I spent apartment hunting. To be honest it was not very fun. Most of the rentals in southern CA are small privately owned complexes. So we were driving around looking for signs, calling the numbers, and using our GPS the whole time I felt car sick. It was the same feeling you get when you read too long in the car or if you are riding down really curvy roads. We have a lot more looking to do. I must admit I am getting a little nervous, given our lack of time for looking and the price range we are looking for. I really want to be happy with whatever we decide upon. If anyone has any suggestions of where to check out please let us know.

Also this weekend there were major fires in the surrounding LA area. The sky was hazy and the smell of smoke was evident in many areas. Luckily in Burbank there was no danger or smokey smells. Last night we had plans to visit our friends Joel and Amy to hang out in Fullerton. The fires were in a nearby city. Though logic would say not to drive towards the fires, of course we did the opposite. There was no danger by Joel and Amy's place or in their city but the smell of smoke was everywhere. Looking out their windows you could barely see some of the fire on top of the mountains 8 or so miles away. So we went to see the new James Bond movie and had yogurt at yogurt land. By the end of the night ash white ash was falling like a very light snowy mist. It's sad when you think about the ash being some one's memories or home. I wish we would have brought our camera to capture some pictures. But Amy and Joel have posted some of theirs here from earlier in the day. I am so thankful for all of the firefighters in CA who yearly fight these major fires. It makes you think......

Tuning Out & Turning Off

Have you ever been so incredibly busy that you just want to turn off? When you don't have much time sometimes even the smallest thing can seem like a huge time zapper... and you decide to tune out. Well unfortunately that was me recently. October came and went in a rush. Everything went so quickly. There were things that I didn't have time to do, and things I should have done....maybe, if I had had the time to do them. As you can image updating my blog was very low on the ladder...along with updating my pictures.

Well, since my last post my cousin got married. My family and I spent the rest of the week at my brother's beautiful lake house in Gaylord, MI. It was gorgeous with the trees all turning colors and fun to hang out in each other's company. Then it was back to the mad rush of things to do here in LA. Halloween was of course nothing less than I would expect in Hollywood. The election came and went and the buzz was so neat!

Now that I feel like I'm back in the game I'm debating... do I want to edit my pictures......nah! Too much to finish in one night. Maybe it will be my weekend project? We'll see how it goes. On a side note the other day as I was turning onto our road I passed the Dunder Mifflin, Inc. truck from the office! They must have been driving back from a shoot. Kind of cool!

Home Again

Currently I'm sitting in my Mom's living room in Michigan and we're watching the SNL presidential special. It's pretty funny! We got back from DC to spend 2 days in our apartment in LA before getting on a plane to head home for my cousin's wedding in MI. It's been incredibly busy! Our trip to DC was really crazy. The first part I spent in meetings, and the second half was spent visiting family and friends in the area. We came home to a clogged sink that wouldn't drain. We had to call our maintenance and they were there for hours before we were able to unpack and relax. The past two days at work flew by as they were spent catching up on what I had missed during the DC trip and preparing everything for my MI trip. It was a strange but busy few days.

James and I took the shuttle to the airport. By the time we got to the airport I was sure we were going to miss our flight. I was so anxious....we cut it VERY close. But thank the Lord all went well and we just barely made it on our flight. With just enough time to use the bathroom before boarding. We got into MI around 10pm. The weather was cool and very fall feeling. It was fun waking up this morning and looking at all of the trees beginning to turn colors. I miss getting to see the seasons change, in CA everything kind of looks the same. Although the weather has cooled a bit, no longer hovering in the high 90s, so perhaps that is CA's way of changing seasons? 

Tomorrow is the rehearsal for my cousin's wedding. It's crazy to think the day is finally here. She is so excited and so are we.  I love weddings!  James and I were driving around MSU and I couldn't help thinking how just 2.6 years ago James and I were married at the MSU chapel. I feel so blessed to be married to him, God knew exactly what He was doing when He paired us together. I pray that my cousin will be just as happy! We're having her bachelorette party tomorrow, it will be fun to hang out with her close friends...I think I'll send James to go hang out with my Dad.

We haven't had a chance to edit any of the pics from the DC/VA visit but we'll post them later once we get home and have some time. Later this week we're going up north to my brother's lake house, I'm hoping the trees will be in full color. We'll take lots of pictures, and hopefully we can get all the pictures up by the end of next week. But we'll see...the way things are going who knows when we'll have time!

Now it's time for bed!

Everyday Life

Check out my husband's blog....gives you a glimpse of where we live :) Click here!

DC

You may have been wondering why I haven't been bloggin lately. This past week my work sent me to DC for our all hands marketing meeting. Which is great!!! We've had a chance to see and hang out with James' family. In the next few days we'll get to see some friends too! Just a few months ago we were moving to LA ...time flies! The workshop was great but really busy. We'll post pictures of the trip later, that's it for now....more to come!

Sunday Nights

A typical Sunday night. Click here.

September is a month of celebrations

The past week it was my Mom's birthday. Tomorrow it is my brother's birthday and my grandparent's anniversary. Then this weekend is Nana's birthday. Wow! What a fun month, I wish I was in MI to celebrate with everyone! But since I'm not...happy birthdays and anniversary!!! In light of the celebrations I thought it would be fun to post some older pictures that I found from our old wedding slide show, enjoy!

Hollywood Style

This past Thursday, James and I attended the 100th episode party for Clean House, the show he is working on. I've avoided blogging about it because I knew I would have so much to write, but alas it's time to get it all down! It's weird to think that James was on set for the filming of awards that will be featured on their 100th episode. Some of the houses were well deserving of the awards, or so I'm told :)

At first I was a little nervous about going to the party. James had informed me that it would be dressy casual, and that it would be held in a house in the hills. Of course I always hate the phrase dressy casual, also known in the sorority world as "snappy casual". I find it so much easier to dress for events when the attire is labeled as dressy or casual. Not both. But either way, I chose to wear a beautiful black sleeveless top my mother-in law gave to me a couple of Christmas' ago, with my skinny fit jeans, and strappy black heals. For a purse I carried my coach clutch that my mom had given me as a Christmas present as well.

James and I parked in the recommended parking structure where we were driven to the hilltop party in town cars. I was able to meet a fair amount of James' co-workers while awaiting our transportation. They were all so nice! Everyone was fun and looking quite fabulous. Luckily I think I made the right choice in attire, I felt I fit in well into the scene and not out of place. The town car came and up the hill we went. We were dropped off at the top where a beautiful home sat with a red carpet, awaiting our arrival . We had to check our names at the door. Once inside there were delicious deserts, appetizers, and drinks awaiting us. The appetizers were amazing....shrimp, steak, mushroom puffs, chicken, and a cheese and cracker dish. The desserts were pretty good too...rice krispie treats, chocolate fondue with strawberries, pretzels, marsh mellows, and of course they had really cute cupcakes. The waiters were all extremely fun and lively. I was even able to sample the new "it" energy drink called Her.

There was a DJ playing great music and the whole house was pretty empty to allow for more room to mingle. The outside patio was gorgeous. The pool was light up a purple pink color. There were candles everywhere too! They had an open fire pit that was very modern in the style. I also enjoyed the extra touch of Modern Home and O magazines on all of the tables. The best part and most beautiful though was the view of the city. You could see all the lights of the city and the hills. It was the kind of view you would think of seeing in the movies. I wish had brought our camera....it was amazing!!!

So many interesting people were there, and I was able to meet most of them which was amazing!!! The heads of Style network, the hosts of the show, the designer of the show, those coordinating the show, those who edit the show, other productions assistants, sound people, and more. It was so great to see and meet the people James works with and for. I was even told that Paris Hilton was at the party before we arrived!!! Only in Hollywood right?!

It was a great and fun night! On our way out we received gift bags with chocolate, anti-oxidant water, magazines, and 100th episode CDs. I was so glad that James and I got to experience this together. I hope they have another party soon!!!!

News on All Levels

These past few weeks have been incredibly interesting ones for our country. The hurricanes have had devastating effects from devouring winds to flooding waters. Many have been without water for days. There is much damage to clean up from the storms and many people in need of assistance.

This past Friday there was a metro link crash here in the LA area. 25 lives were taken as the metro link collided with a freight train. It was a very bad accident...Click here for more information.

Also as many of you have heard there are businesses that are not doing so well in the stock exchange. Some of you may know that I almost accepted a job with one of these companies. I praise God for giving me guidance when I was making my job decision. Who knows where I would be right now otherwise...probably looking for another job.

Well enough of my reflections...onto news....


Today James had his follow up Dr. apt. He has been feeling better, and though its taken him awhile to sound better today his voice actually sounds normal. The Dr. says things still look like they are in the clear but James is to come for another check up in a week.

James was invited to a cocktail party with his work celebrating the 100th episode of Clean House. So I'm invited too! It will be later this week. I have no idea what to expect, but it should be exciting!

We're both getting excited and prepared for our trip to DC which will then be followed by our trip to MI for my cousin's wedding. We can't wait!!!!

Hangin In

The Kankas are hanging in there....This week began with James feeling sick. He was at work last week on one of the messiest houses yet. They even gave the crew masks to wear! Over the weekend James' voice disappeared and he felt horrible. I of course made him chicken noodle soup and nagged him into making a doctor's appointment. It turned out that 2 other guys from his crew were just as sick with the same thing. So today they all went into the doctor together. They took x-rays and everything of his lungs but they didn't find anything. Though they want to monitor him and check him out next week. The dust and things in the messy house cause are what have brought on this bad spell. He seems a lot better today and I'm hopeful that they won't find anything next week at the check up.

On another note....as I was leaving work today I noticed a film crew working outside and around the building next to mine. Since it was along my walk to the parking structure I got a good look. I think it was the show called "CHUCK". That's what all the director chairs said. They had huge lights, people with radios, microphones, and actors dress in really nice suits. It looked like fun...the location of the offices that I work in is actually very nice and contemporary looking. Can't wait to see if I can pick it out on the show! Also on my drive home, around the corner from our place is Vons, our local grocery store. Well there was a tour bus of somebody parked there. There were a bunch of peple and body gaurds out in the front of the bus. It looked like a really nice tour bus... I wonder whose it was????

Labor Day Weekend Pictures!!!!

Thanks friends for all of the fun! To see the pictures on a larger scale or for any friends who would like prints just double click on the image and it will take you to our Picassa web album where you can view, download, and print the pictures. Enjoy!!!

Creative Husband

If you haven't had a chance to check out my husband's blog today you really need to. During our friends' visit James decided to take our digital still camera and take photos at high speeds to make into a mini video. At first I thought he was crazy...then I thought he was wasting the camera battery. Good thing I was wrong, the video is amazing!!! I am constantly surprised by my husband's talent and creativity. It's really fun to see how he pieces his creative works together. Again it was a fun weekend, to check out the video click HERE.

Mini Reunion and Labor Day Weekend Fun

This past weekend our friends came to visit for a mini reunion vacation. Chase and Elizabeth flew in from Texas. David and Arielle flew in from Northern Virginia. Since Amy and Joel live nearby in Fullerton, CA we were all able to meet up for a mini GMU reunion. It was crazy fun!!!!

As many of you know James graduated from George Mason University, where he became close friends with Chase, David and Joel. Campus life was always interesting with these guys, they are truly more like brothers. Now a little older, and married, their brotherly bond is still evident and distance can't keep them apart! Through my relationship with James and the GMU guys I was also able develop great friendships with their ladies. Elizabeth and I became friends on the summer project where James and I met in 2003. She actually met her husband Chase on that same summer project. I became friends with Arielle shortly after moving to VA, she was one of the first to reach out to me in the new town. I can still remember seeing her relationship with David bloom. Then there is Amy who is my newest friend. I can remember hearing about Joel being sweet on a girl from PA. When James and I moved to CA she was here open armed and ready to help us move and transition to the So Cal. life.

So this weekend was filled with so much fun and laughter. It was great to see our guys giddy to hang out with each other. I can still remember the reaction I got when the girls suggested that the boys could eat at their own table....they were so excited!!! haha! That is how the whole weekend pretty much went.

But for those of you are are interested here's the run down of events....On Friday night we had everyone came for a sleep over ...don't worry everyone had separate beds! In the morning we visited Hollywood and saw the stars. Then we went to Rodeo Drive and walked through Beverly Hills. Of course we had to get lunch at In-n-Out Burger! After lunch we went to Malibu where the boys played games on the beach, while the girls went walking and sun bathing. After the beach, it was a night out in Santa Monica for dinner. It was an action filled day...everyone was completely exhausted by the time we made it home.

On Sunday we all met back up and played put-put golf. James and I came in with a combined score for second place....I think.... :-) Then the guys went off to an NFL draft thing... and the girls went shopping! We spent the night at Amy and Joel's place that night, but not without going to Yogurt Land first!

Today, Monday, we spent just hanging out and enjoying eachother's company before our out of towners had to head back to the airport. Whew! I'm so tired! But this was such a fun and exciting weekend!!!! We felt blessed to have friends who would travel so far to just hang out with us. Thanks everyone!

As far a pictures...we took a LOT!!! I have to edit them still and James has already been working on a short movie clip of our weekend, surprise! We'll post them soon so keep your eyes peeled!!!

Visiting the Park

On Saturday evening James and I decided to go check out a park in Beverly Hills. The sunlight was beautiful as it set in the mountains. Here are some pictures from our excursion, enjoy!

In-n-Out

Tonight after work James and I went to the famous In-n-Out Burger. This hamburger chain has a huge following on the west coast. It is like the Five Guys of California. Like all great hamburger joints In-n-Out has a simple menu, but many out of towners don't know that In-n-Out has a secret menu. Click here to get the diggs...Another interesting fact is that this company prints bible verses on some of their products. If you look closely you will see the verse John 3:16 on their cups. Cool huh? You can read more about this here. All that said, James and I enjoyed our dinner, it's a great place to get a delicious burger!

Busy Busy

Things have been incredibly busy since returning from MI. There has been a lot going on at work as we are approaching are very busy season. James and I have also managed to spend some time hanging out with friends both new and old. It's been an interesting month to say the least!

I wish I had some facinating news to share with you all but things have been pretty quiet. I just finished the books "The Secret Life of Bees" and "Shoot the Moon". Both were pretty good, but of course nothing can compare to my Jane Austin collection. Does anyone out there have any good suggestions for my next read? Currently James and I do not have a TV. I'm really not missing it. We still watch movies and tv shows but we watch them on the web. I've been spending some of my time reading books too, it's been fun! Recently I also tried painting ... I'm a little rusty....but it felt good to paint again.

Pictures from Michigan!

Short Trip Home

As some of you may know I took a trip to Michigan for a long weekend. I flew home to celebrate my cousin's wedding shower and my Grandparents' 80th birthdays. I was so excited to go home. My plane was to leave on Thursday at 11pm CA time.

There were a billion things to get done before I got out the of work. As I was heading out of the building I decided to go down a stairwell I hadn't gone down before. Well I got down to the bottom lobby floor and pushed...but the door would not open. I kept pushing and pounding but still it wouldn't budge! I hiked back up to the third floor where my office is and that door was locked too! I had a key so I tried it, but the key was not for this particular door.

It was hot and all I could think was "ugghhhh....I really don't want to miss my flight!" Luckily I decided to call everyone I could think of in the office and pounded on the door as loudly as I could. A co-worker heard my banging and came to the rescue, though slightly confused as to why I was needing rescuing. There was really no time to explain. But I made it home and to the airport fine, despite being stuck in the stairwell at work. My flight was delayed an hour but I still managed to land in Lansing, MI by 10am on Friday.

After working all day and taking the red-eye to MI, I was pooped by the time we landed. But the sunshine did wonders and my Mom, Nanna, and I began to shop for the last minute wedding shower needs. Once home Mom had us help with assembling the decorations and preparing the food. My Boppa even came over and assisted us with putting little boxes together. It was fun to chat with everyone as we assembled the items. Shortly after Boppa arrived my Uncle Doug and Aunt Jane stopped in. It was so much fun! My brother and his wife Nicole arrived with their dog Bailey around dinner time, and my Dad came in from work. We were done with the preparations and enjoyed a relaxing night eating pizza, one of our favorites!

I awoke early the next morning for our double party. The shower first and the B-day dinner later. We packed up the cars and headed to the church. My family is amazing, they all came to the church early to help set up. Everyone pitched in and I believe the wedding shower was truly wonderful and beautiful thanks to everyone's help! My cousin Cathy and Matt had a great time and it was so nice to see everyone there to support them. Shortly after the shower was over, we had dinner at my Grandparents' favorite restaurant called Hersheys. It was wonderful to have the whole group there, minus James. We took pictures, had great food, and spent time chatting and catching up.

The next day I was able to see my friend Devon whom I don't get to see very much. It was such a joy, to see her again and pick up right where we left off the last time. Devon joked that our visits are are like an eclipse, rare and far between. We had fun talking about all the updates and where the Lord is leading us in our lives.Hopefully we'll get some more time again when I come home in October for my cousin's wedding. After visiting with Devon, my cousin Cathy and I had some one on one time too. How fun it was to catch up on her life and to hear all the wedding plans and preparations. It wasn't too long ago when James and I were in the same boat :)

Later on Sunday my Mom, Dad, and I went to the East Lansing Folk Festival. It was great! There were many really good bands playing. My favorite was an Arcadian band from Canada. They sang some songs in English and some in French. They danced and played at least two instruments each. So fun!!! The weather wasn't holding up though and it rained, so we went to see the movie "Swing Vote". A very cute movie with a great message.

Monday during the day my Grandparents and my Dad came over to each lunch with me and chat before I went to the airport. It was nice and relaxing! Before I knew it I was on a plan ride back to CA again. On the flight home someone had an allergic reaction and the plane took an emergency landing in New Mexico. So I didn't get to bed until late. When I came home James had fresh flowers for me!

It was weird to come back to CA where everything is dry, brown, and warm. MI had beautiful green grass and trees. The weather was even slightly cold and rainy. It's strange how when you're here in CA you start to miss the rain...even if it does make you want to stay inside. So that was my whirlwind trip to MI. I miss my family already!

James is working on a music video today! He met some great people over the weekend on the short film project. He went in really early this morning and I'm still waiting for him to get home. I so happy for him to have this opportunity. I can't wait to hear all about it. You'll have to check out his blog for more info on what it's about. I can't wait for this weekend. I'm hoping to finally get some quality hang out time with him.

The next two weeks are a little crazy at work. There are a lot of people coming into the office for meetings. It should be fun but busy! Some other fun news is that I recently found out that I will be going to DC for a work trip the week before my cousin's wedding. James will be able to join me and we'll most likely be able to see our family and friends in the DC/VA area! How cool huh?

Well that's it for now soon I'll post the pictures from my short trip home!

Fun Day in SD

James' dad had a conference in CA this week. Saturday he flew into LAX, where James and I picked him up and then drove to San Diego (SD). We spent the day touring the SD area and taking pictures. We had a lot of fun! We drove back last night to avoid the terrible traffic. The drive home was a breeze, so I'm thinking we made the right decision. James and I definitely would like to go back to SD someday. My uncle lives there and I'd love to plan some time to hang out with him as well. Today I've been spending my time doing laundry, organizing, and getting things ready for my trip to Michigan!!! I'm so excited I leave on Thursday night after work. I can't wait to see everyone!!!!

Anyway...here are the pictures from our short day trip to SD, enjoy!!!

Shaky Ground

Well the earthquake hit while I was at work. There was a noise and a sudden movement feeling like a bus or truck hit the building. But the building didn't stop moving, it began to sway more. I looked out the window and the trees were moving. Everyone stood up and kind of looked at each other torn between the decision to bolt out the door or wait around and see what kind of an earthquake it was. What a strange feeling....it didn't last long and it wasn't very violent. Nothing crashed or fell down. Afterwards I felt a little weird, kinda sick. Other people in the office felt sick too. I'm told this is due to gravity and your equilibrium (or whatever that thing is), apparently it makes you feel like you have motion sickness after an earthquake. I guess our bodies aren't used to the counter movement of the earth. I found out a few people in our building ran outside once the ground started moving. These are the same people who were around in 1994 when an earthquake devastated the LA area, including the flattening of the mall and office buildings in which our building is located. Since then our building has been re-built with state of the art earthquake stuff, hence the swaying feeling of the building in the earthquake. I can't help but wonder what being in the world trade center must have felt like on 911. To feel the building move underneath you with you inside, knowing it could collapse at any minute. It must have been strange and scary. I now know that when an earthquake hits you are supposed to hide under a door frame or a desk, though I think I would probably want to run outside too. James thought the earthquake was really neat, he was at work too when it happened.

Along with earthquakes, I feel like in life right now I've been on shaky ground too. Being new at work I'm constantly trying to figure out my role, and what that means. I hate being new and having to sift through everything. I love it when I can get down to business and cross things off my list. I know this comes with time so I'm just praying that as I continue to plow ahead, that I'm able to meet the expectations laid out before me by others and myself. I also pray that I would continue to adapt well in my new surroundings. James and I are also still getting used to the LA area and learning our way around. We don't have the friend base here that we had in VA to turn to for help, or our families to assist us in close proximity. There is something to be said for knowing your local area and where to go to for what. I hate googling everything, but I love that technology has made getting to know a new area easier. All in all we're making our way through doing the best that we can with adapting to life in southern CA. So far there have been some shaky times, but we're diggin in and learning a lot in the process. I can't wait for everything to feel like an old hat!

Today James fixed our car, so its currently running again yay!!!

All of the earthquake news reminds me of how important foundations are:
Matthew 7:24-25
24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

"Someone's got a case of the Mondays"

Today was a fine example of why Mondays get a bad reputation. James and I began our morning with a small disagreement...not the end of the world but not quite your ideal morning routine. I left the apartment 4 times before I could get to the street. Each time I had to go back for something I had forgotten, and each time I locked the door sure that I had everything I needed. I finally made it to my car with everything I could possibly imagine that I would need for the day...only to find that my car would not start. Not even a little...:(. James was already at work himself so I headed back to the apartment...this being the 5th time through the door before 9am. I called a taxi to take me to work and reluctantly paid the $30 fare for my fine highway cruise. All in all a great start to my day :) I'd love to say the day got better but it depends on your view better. It didn't get any worse! My director offered to give me a ride home and a ride to work in the morning so I feel really blessed and am so thankful!

I'm thinking Tuesday will be better... although I am scared for Wednesday when we take the car in to be looked at. Yikes!

Days like to today remind me of Matthew 6: 25-34

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

And similarity Luke 12:22-34

"22Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 26Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

27"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

32"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I'm glad that in the end our earthly possessions will have no value... I wouldn't have much to show if they did. It's so funny how some things can seem so important and life shattering, but when put them into perspective, those things mean nothing. Though I'm not thrilled about dealing with our car now, I know that it's no use to worry about it. God will see us though the process and 6 months from now it will be the last thing on our mind.

On that note I'll end with a fun link. If you've never seen Hoops & YoYo you need to. They have some really funny e-cards on Hallmark.com. There is a Monday one...click here to view.

HAPPY MONDAY!

Lots of Pictures!!!

As you can imagine, with everything that's been going on, James and I have accumulated a lot of pictures. He unfortunately beat me in creating a Picasa photo album. I did not want to create a duplicate so here is the sideshow, sorry for such a modge-podge of events and the length it will take to view all of them. Be warned many photos are unedited, so you have some good with some not so good... at least it keeps it interesting and humorous! All in all though we had a fun July, and hopefully that shows in our pictures!!! Enjoy!!!

Vegas

It's been over a week since my last post. As I had mentioned in my previous post my work had sent me on a trip to Vegas for a company conference. We arrived in Vegas on Sunday, and stayed at the Palazzo, the newest casino on the strip. This casino and hotel was brimming with elegance. Marble floors everywhere, swanky lights, large fountains, and of course only the best in service. At the Palazzo every room is a suite. My room included a large king sized bed, a drop down living room with couch and ottoman, 2 large flat screen television sets, a wet bar, a desk with a fax/printer, a breakfast table and chairs, remote controlled shades and drapery, large glass shower, a deep soaking tub, 2 bath robes, a television in the bathroom, two sinks, a vanity area, and a separate room for the toilet. I was in awe! The square footage of this suite was larger than our apartment and nicely decorated. Every night I found chocolates on my bed from the hotel staff and fresh ice in our cooler. I was so happy that James was able to join me on this trip for the first few days!

The conference was filled with many meetings, seminars, introductions, conversations, and dinners. The days for the most part were quite busy. James was able to come for the first two days and then was called into work. I was sad that he did not get to enjoy Vegas longer. Especially with the extravagant accommodations. On his stay he did however get to walk the strip with me at night and during the day he enjoyed the immaculate pools with chairs that allowed you to soak in the pool. I was sad to see him go but happy that called him to work.

The planned dinners were amazing and delicious! I had salmon, crab cakes, lobster bisque, and cheesecake shaped like lollipops and served on a lollipop tree. It was wonderful. Not to mention the different wines I was able to try at dinner.

It was also wonderful to get to know the staff. The people from my office and the corporate people from around the country. It is truly amazing what they do and the wealth of knowledge and experience they hold. It was also fun to talk to those from the DC offices and discuss the DC area that I miss so much.

On our trip my co-worker Lindsay and I had the opportunity to get invited to go to a few of the night clubs for after parties with the some of the company. It was fun and interesting. I hadn't been to a club in years. We received some VIP passes for these parties with the company allowing us to meet and get to know some of the key members of the corporation. It was fun to pass everyone else waiting outside of the club to get in :) The first club we went to was called Pure it was in Caesars palace. It was very trendy and white. It had wonderful service and some people on the dance floor. On a different night we went to Studio 54 at MGM. It was a fun party with all kinds of people dancing, go-go dancers on podiums (clothed), and trapeze artists swinging from the sky (also clothed). That was the first time I had seen male go-go dancers as well.

Every night there was something to do, or someplace to go. Our morning sessions began pretty early as well. I found myself quite tired most of the week. There were wonderful and accomplished speakers who presented at the main sessions. They had great insight and perspective so it was a treat to hear them speak.

Today I feel like crashing and resting. Tomorrow I will spend the day cleaning, doing laundry, and getting errands done. On Sunday James' family is coming for a short visit! Yay! We're excited to see them and have them experience so-Cal with us. I fear that Monday will come too quickly.

All in all it was a great and eventful week!!! I had never been to Vegas before, or received such nice accommodations for work. I now feel that I have truly experienced Vegas and gained valuable insight/knowledge for the company I am working for. But I'm definitely happy to be home, back online, and back in touch with the rest of life.

thursday...almost friday

If you haven't had a chance to check out James' blog today you should....it's funny, especially if you know my history...

Yesterday there was a production company filming on our street for a high end commercial. They blocked off the whole area. I had to park a few blocks away. In the morning they teased us, eating their gormet breakfasts, as we walked the extra block on the way to my car. It was a pretty big crew with talent trucks, police officers directing traffic, and equipment. I thought we had a fairly quiet residential street, it probably was exactly what they were looking for. James watched part of the commercial shoot. They gave him a free toothbrush......I have no idea if this is normal :)

Today was a pretty good day. Work is moving right along, and I'm slowly getting more adjusted. There is still quite a lot to learn, and I keep reminding myself the need to soak everything in. I quite frequently jump in and start running. Which has it's benefits and negatives. I've learned over the years that taking the extra time to absorb the info is a big benefit. Once things get rolling, there is never enough time to go back for that time to absorb. So I'm trying and digging in piece by piece. I know it won't be long before I'm running full speed. Today I also found out the hotel arrangements for the trip to Vegas, and I'm so excited! I feel so honored for the opportunity to join the team in Vegas. We're staying at the Palazzo! It's connected to the Venetian and apparently the only rooms they have are suites. I looked at the rooms online last night and the room that is booked for me is larger in square feet than our current apartment! :) Not to mention the remote controlled blinds and the t.v. in the tub!!!! I'm flying out on Sunday and returnign home on Friday. James will be driving and joining me on Sunday. We are sure yet of his work schedule but he'll probably leave on Tuesday, so he can be ready for work on Wednesday. I'm excited that he is coming, who knows when we would have another time to visit Vegas? Sure it's not that far away but usually Vegas trips are a little more burden-some on the pockets.

After Vegas, James and I will get to spend some time with the Kanka family. His mom, dad, and sister will be coming in for a few days. We are so excited to see them and show them around the LA area!!! I know it's been hard on both of us not to have our families close by, so this visit will be a treat! Of course we will take plenty of pictures to post on our blogs!!!

Other than that there isn't too much new to report... Keep praying for me as I adjust to my new job and schedule. Pray for my work trip to Vegas and that I stay healthy, as I sometimes tend to get run down and sick when I travel. Also please pray for James and his job that he would have many opportunties to work and that he would make connections in the film industry. One more... please pray for us to get to know others in CA and to develop friendships. Thanks everyone for your prayers we definitely apprecaite them!!!

Anticipation

Well the past week has been filled with anticipation. As you know I had had two verbal job offers of employment from two different companies for two totally different jobs. The first verbal offer was with a financial/insurance company, to be an executive assistant to the Marketing CEO. The second verbal offer was with a specialized technology company that serves schools, government, and cities. The position that they had called me in to interview for was a marketing project specialist, to assist the Marketing Team with managing various marketing materials and projects. Since they were both verbal offers I was waiting upon the completion of background checks to be cleared and for the formal written offers to come through. I had decided beforehand the company #2 was the job that I had really wanted. The business casual environment, friendly staff, upward movement possibilities, and highly motivated/skilled staff made this job more appealing. Not to mention the job description/duties were more in line with what I was looking for. The formal offer came in on Tuesday, July 2nd and I quickly accepted!

This made the 4th of July a great celebration weekend for James and I :) On the 4th of July James and I headed over to Griffith Park to watch the city lit up with fireworks. The view was amazing I've never experienced July 4th fireworks like that before. It was dark and we could see all the lights of the city from the mountain view of Griffith Park. There were at least 20 different firework shows that we could see happening all around the city instantaneously. It was so neat the fireworks would pop up all over the place. It was truly beautiful!!!

Then on Sunday after church James and I decided to go the LA Farmers Market. We walked around the very cute and posh area. We heard some live jazz, ate at one of the quaint eateries in the Farmers Market, and people watched in the beautiful and trendy shopping area/outdoor mall next door. It was nice to see. It is located right next to CBS studios and seems to be a pretty popular spot to hangout/eat/shop.

Today, Monday, was my first official day on the new job. I was nervous about going in. I hadn't heard back from the HR department about the materials that I had signed and sent back...But the papers I signed explained that I would begin on Monday at 9am. I was excited to find that when I arrived, I was not the only new kid on the block. There were two other employees whose first days were today as well. One of which was working within the same department as I, and sharing the same office area. She was really nice and I have a feeling we will be good friends. I received the tour, some trainings, a lot of learning and intake of information. Best of all, the whole team took me out for lunch. I felt welcomed and appreciated :) So my fears of having a horrible first day experience are relieved and now I'm just trying not to worry too much about the next few weeks. I hate new stages and feeling like I'm missing information. I have a lot of new lingo, policies, practices, documents, and information to learn. Please pray for me as I do my best to soak it all in as quickly as possible and that I adapt well. Today I also found out that I most likely will be traveling to Las Vegas for a week for a work conference. Most of the office is attending the conference. I've been told that James may come along as well, so I'm really excited. I was also excited to find out that I should be receiving a laptop for work purposes. Yay!!! For those of you who remember my work at MBC you'll know that I love being able to stay connected/updated with a laptop.

So all in all it was a great day. Tiring...yes, but all first days are. I really enjoy my director and the team I will be working on. I'm excited to get past the new stage and jump in but I also realize the importance of the new stage and soaking it all in. James' schedule and my own is soon to become quite busy, in a good way. Pray that as things pick up that I would also be able to get used to my new job, and new schedule.

Our Place Last Night

Last night James and I had some friends over for dinner. It was a fun night! Our friend Josh (whom we had met on our Summer Project trip to Wildwood, NJ in 2003) came over and brought his two friends who were married. It was wonderful to meet them, hang out, and chat together. Josh stayed to play the game Settlers with James and I. For the first time in a long while, I won which probably selfishly added to my enjoyment of the game :) haha! But really I think I was rather sneaky, and James didn't realize what I was planning until it was too late :)

It was nice to have people over and host again. It has been a long time since we've had groups of people over. It's quite strange when you think about it.... at our place in VA we would have people over all the time. We love hanging out with others and developing friendships...not to mention we love to play games! Last night reminded me of all of our friends from the DC area and all the dinners, desserts, games, adventures, and explorations we've had with them. I miss them all dearly and hopefully can see them all at some point when we return to visit northern VA. But for now the memories will have to do.

Eventful Day

This past Wednesday was a very full and eventful day. The day began with James taking the cars to get oil changes while I got ready for the day. Once he was back, James and I were going to go to the Style House to watch E! Entertainments "Clean House Comes Clean" shoot. James works on "Clean House" so he does not work on this show, however the hosts for this show are the same hosts that James works with so they invited him and I to come check it out. It was my first time on a real set and it was really neat. Style House is Marilyn Monroe's old home, and it was neat to see all of the crew there and the way the house has been modified for filming purposes. The set was quite small, smaller than I was expecting but on the viewing monitors the set looks amazing and quite spacious. It's funny how t.v. can give that effect. I was able to meet the hosts, some of James friends who work with him on "Clean House", and some of the crew. Everyone was very nice and had the wonderful California charm that you would expect (real laid back and go with the flow). They even invited us to have some of the free food that was coming for lunch which was sushi. Yum!

After lunch we headed to my interview that was scheduled with that company that had called me back. We didn't have much time in between so James came with me and hung out at Starbucks while I interviewed. The interview went fabulous! I really enjoyed the company that the description of the job they were looking to fill. How cool right?

After the interview James and I went to a music store on Sunset Blvd. to hear a free small concert of one of our favorite artists Amos Lee. It was great! The store had so much character and more CDs, records, posters, etc. than I knew existed. James and I thought it would be neat to come back sometime, since they also sold a wide assortment of used CDs for reasonable prices. Well Amos Lee was fabulous and wonderful to hear live. It was a simple acoustic set and he is such a talented musician that the set needed nothing more than a drummer. It was fun. We walked around Sunset Blvd. for a little while before coming home.

Once home we rented two movies, and made it through one before we were too sleepy.

Yesterday, Thursday, James and I vegged out and did some small errands. I found some cute shower invites for my cousin's bridal shower coming up. I'm definitely excited to go home in August for the shower and celebrations. I can't wait to see everyone!

Today James and I went to the movie theater to get the early weekend price. We saw the movie WALL E . It was really good, and included a funny twist I was not expecting. Though James and I still enjoyed Prince Caspian more, WALL E was a well done movie worth seeing. Tonight we're making steaks and chilling out. I might try and work on a painting that I started last night. It's been years since I've painted....it's fun and hard having to re-learn some of the techniques I used to do. Thanks Mom for the paint set it is wonderful!!!!! I love it!!!

I'm not sure what we have planned for the weekend yet! I'm sure we'll find something fun and interesting to discover for ourselves in LA. There are so many things to do here it's great!

Long Time Coming....

I know its been a while since I've last posted... I think I've been purposely avoiding it. It's interesting to me how people choose what to share and what not to share with each other. Being transparent leaves you feeling quite vulnerable, yet at the same time being transparent can leave you feeling quite free. So here is what's been going on lately.....

Last week I had a call to go on an interview for a personal assistant job with a very affluent Beverly Hills family. The interview went great and the perks for the job sounded amazing! I've never been someone's personal assistant before but it sounded fun. The family asked me to come in for a trail period, for a couple of weeks to see how it goes. I said "sure!", not really thinking things through. Well I went on Monday so excited, and scared...when I came home Monday evening I was very positive that being a personal assistant was not quite right for me professionally. I felt like a fish out of water. I didn't know what to do, who to ask, where to go, and how to find things. And trust me I do like asking questions and taking initiative to get the job done. But I learned that I like the corporate environment where you get to interact with others quite frequently, and where you have others to give insight/orientation. And I like feeling like part of a team and structure. So I thought and prayed about it. I decided to give it another day, and I still felt like I was trying to wear someone else's shoes. It wasn't terrible but in the end the shoes just didn't fit. I felt strongly that I would have a better fit, employment wise, elsewhere. I don't mind the competition but I wasn't sure if this was a challenge I desired to compete for. So I broke the news today and told them that I just didn't feel this position was right for me. They were very gracious and understanding, and I felt good knowing I was doing what was right for me.

Also at the same time I heard back from the job that I had previously posted about. Out of the final two candidates for an executive assistant position, they informed me that I was the first choice! And it seems like a really great company and staff. They are doing some final background/resume checks and should have a formal offer to me soon. At least that is what I've been told. So yay for good news!

Today I've also been contacted by a different company that I interviewed for 2 weeks ago. There is a very new opening in their company and the team thought I would be a great fit. So I'm going on another interview tomorrow. I'm excited to hear about it and talk with them, there is the potential for it to be really interesting. This company and staff were also really great.

So all this said... please pray for me in my decisions and that God would guide me into the right job here. Also that this process would happen quickly as our funds are getting tight.

This past week I turned 26! Yay! Thank you everyone for the cards, gifts, messages, songs you all truly made me feel loved. In my opinion Facebook is awesome. My profile wall was flooded with b-day wishes. Thanks everyone for remembering you really know how to make a girl feel special. James and I both received some nice money presents from our families, thank you all!!! You'll be pleased to know that we have a Disneyland Trip in the works. What better way to celebrate your birthday than Disneyland!? We'll post pictures when we go! As for the day of celebrations we went to see the movie "Prince Caspian" and it was so good! We both left wishing that all movies impacted their viewers like this one.

Well that is it for now... I'm sure there is more that I'm missing but at least you have the diggs on me and my job situation. Thanks everyone for the prayers I know they help! :)

Kanka Report

Not too much new to report from the Kankas this week. I'm still on the job hunt and applying for jobs daily. I haven't had much feedback from that final interview that I had posted about earlier except that I am still in the running and no decisions have been made yet. They told me that there is one other candidate they are considering. It makes me feel good to know that I'm in the final two even if the job doesn't work out. I went on a different interview yesterday, and it went really well. (At least I felt that the interview went well.) It was for a position that would assist with events and planning for a marketing team. The company was in a beautiful building and the people seemed really friendly, which is always a good sign. I have another interview scheduled for Thursday with a company in Burbank. So praise God for these few interviews, though I'm still praying for more. Thanks everyone for the prayers, please continue to pray for me in the job hunt and for God's complete guidance in the process.

James had been kept busy working hard. He really enjoys being on set and getting to know the people who work behind the scenes at "Clean House." He has been pulling some really long days, but seems to always have a smile when he comes home. That's always a good sign. He has also managed to get a really great farmers tan, and he sports it well. He's now wearing SPF 50 to work every day!

Last week Friday, James and I decided to check out Griffith Park. It is an amazingly huge park! It is located on the mountains where the Hollywood sign is. This park has a lot to offer including the LA Zoo, a train museum, a carousel, pony stables, a golf course, a greek outdoor amphitheater, a baseball field, tennis courts, picnic areas, hiking trails, and even an observatory! I'm sure there is more that is offered at Griffith Park but we could only see so much on our exploratory trip. We decided to see the views of the city and check out the observatory. It ws incredible! The view on top of the mountain looking at the city was wonderful. You could see the smog here though which is strange, and interferes with the pictures making them look hazy. At night the observatory allows you to stargaze through their telescopes. We are definitely planning to go back and take advantage of this opportunity. After walking around the observatory we decided to take a hike by the Hollywood sign. It was beautiful but the haze made it difficult to get a great shot of the sign. All in all it was a fun day to go explore Griffith Park and see all that it offers. We're already planning a trip back, and the best part is it's only a couple of miles away!

Lately on Sundays we've been exploring the CA beaches. So on Sunday we decided to make a trip out to Malibu and check out Zuma Beach and Point Dume State Beach. It was a lovely trip. The mountains around Malibu are so different than the ones by us in LA. These mountians were a little more lush and a little more rocky. The homes in this area we also massive and extravagant. It was fun to drive by and look! When we got to the beach it was a little overcast but soon it cleared and was a beautiful sunny day. Zuma Beach has big cliffs around it and James and I decided to crawl around/through a cliff to get to Point Dume which gave the feel of a private little beach/lagoon. It was fun. In the pictures you will see one of the cliffs is white from bird poop...aside from this it is still quite beautiful. While we were there I managed to get something very strange stuck on my foot. It looked like tar and I'm scared to research what it really was.... It wouldn't come off despite my vigorous attempts to scrape and scrub. Finally I was able to get the last remnants of it off in the shower. So gross! Luckily it didn't ruin our fun trip and we had a lovely time at the beach. Here are the pictures from the last few days, enjoy!

Double Wrappers

This morning I was making toast, and I began to wonder... why is it that some companies double wrap their bread. Have you noticed that?

Moving Along...

We're glad to report that we have received the new internet modem and so far so good. Yay for un-interrupted internet service!!! Things here have been moving right along....I'm still spending most of my time applying for jobs...it's very time consuming! I find myself coming up with little things to do each day to get me up, away from the computer, and into the real world. :)

This past Sunday after church, James and I went to see some beaches in the area with Joel and Amy. It was a wonderful day! We always love hanging out with Joel and Amy and it was great having someone show you where some of the hot spots are. We ventured to Newport Beach, a place called "The Wedge", and Laguna Beach. The sun was out and the temperature was in the 70s. What could be better? We had a fun and pleasant afternoon hanging with the Elwoods, chatting about life, and looking at one of God's majestic masterpieces. I've posted our pictures from the weekend excursion below.

Last week I was called and invited to come interview on Monday for a job. Though I've only begun applying for jobs I've found that I've been anxious, feeling as though the process isn't moving fast enough. It was encouraging to have this company call. So Monday bright and early I headed out to my interview. The company is about 15 miles from Burbank. From my experiences in DC I was prepared to enter a busy highway and sit in traffic as I slowly crept to my destination. I was a little scared too! It was my first time on the highways here driving solo.

I gave myself an hour and was pleasantly surprised to find traffic heading opposite the direction I was traveling. I arrived at my destination within 30 minutes, without getting lost. The interview went great and I met some really nice people. I've been asked to come back on Thursday for another, and final interview. I'm a little nervous but I'm sure that's normal. It's always hard for me to go into interviews, I feel like I'm trying to sell myself. It's so unnatural to me but I give it my best and learn to embrace the akwardness.

We praise God for all the blessings He's give us these past few days! Thanks everyone for your prayers! Please continue to pray for us, for our jobs, and for God's guidance as we move along.

Part 1 of James' Video Project

Well as some of you know James has captured our whole trip of moving to CA on our video camera. He has now completed editing the first video, he calls it "LA or Bust I". This incorporates the last few days we spent in VA before leaving. He won't let me post it on my blog, so you'll have to check it out by clicking HERE. James did an amazing job! It makes me miss everyone back in VA and remember the adventures of such a big move. Enjoy the video!

One ticket for.....?

Tonight James and I went to see "Iron Man". We were both excited to go to a movie, but naturally James had to research each prospective option on the list of movies currently playing showing. He loves doing this...so naturally he picked the one with the best reviews. Not to mention it was the whole super hero action movie, which always wins extra points with us. Now mind you James is the movie fanatic in our family. I on the other hand, am a little in the fog when it comes to the finer details of movies. I couldn't tell you what the actors names are, when the movies come out, or even their titles. Though we had discussed what movie we were going to go see, when I approched the ticket counter I told the man that we wanted to go see "Rocket Man". He smiled politely and gave us tickets for "Iron Man". He was too kind.

Well the movie was great and as far as I know lived up to all the reviews. (You'll have to read James' blog for his thoughts.) Although we were a little disappointed that no one told us to stay after the credits. Oh well! We figured out what happened by researching the internet when we came home to see what we had missed. :) Definitely go see theres lots of action, lots of explosives, and a few shockers.

This week I've been applying to hundreds of jobs in the SoCal area. It's tough! I hate the time it takes out of the day and how you have to personalize each cover letter that you send out to make it appropriate for the job you're applying for. Another pain is all of the websites that use their own web programs for the hiring process. Each one has you fill out everything that is already on your resume...only in separate boxes! They also usually make you create accounts with their job board site. It's a little annoying, to say the least.

James and i finally received internet service today! But now we have to send back the modem thingy (I don't remember what its called). It kicks us off every 30 minutes. Everything is such a process when you move...you forget when everything was easy.

On a deeper note, I think it's like that with God sometimes too. We need to rejoice with Him in both our struggles and our blessings. Sometimes I think we take for granted the wars that are going on around and within ourselves. It helps me to remember that God's purpose for me is always perfect. Not solely in the end result, but in His timing and process as well. He knows the temptations we'll face, where we'll break,and where He'll mend us and make us stronger. Seems like a lot of us are learning this right now. Maybe we're always learning this....

Morning News

This morning James and I heard some helicopters very early in the morning. We didn't think anything of it, except that it was rather loud and had woken us up. We got up that morning and continued to get ready for church. Once we were outside our apartment I thought it quite oddly overcast, as I noticed some large dark clouds. There was no rain in the forecast so it struck me as strange. Once in the car as we were approaching the highway it all made sense. There was a really big fire at Universal Studios, on the other side of town. It was huge and unfortunate here is a link to watch the video for more info, check it out by clicking here!

Fun Stuff

We officially have two cars again, yay! This past week James and I have been on the hunt for a car. It may seem like an easy task in such a large city, but being a large city is exactly our problem. Money, or lack of, also made this hunt quite challenging. But we finally found exactly what James was looking for in the price range we were planning for. We were given a bag of 40 oranges from the backyard of the previous car owner as a parting gift. He picked them off of his orange tree for us. Only in California would you close a car deal with fresh oranges! I made fresh squeezed orange juice that night... and it was quite a delicious gift!

We are now the proud owners of a 77 Datsun 280z. For those of you who are like myself you have absolutely no idea what this means, so I've posted some pictures below to aid you. I will have to post some more pictures with the full car view. I was unable to get the front of the car in the photo due to lack of time...we went to the beach today and couldn't spare much time with traffic! I've also posted some pictures from our day trip to Santa Monica beach and pier. It was a fun day. I am now a little burned but it was worth it to go to the beach. On our way home we drove through Beverly Hills with all the palm trees and cute shops. We were even able to get a glimpse of the Hollywood sign as we sat in traffic on our way home. All in all a great day and the weekend is just beginning.

Our friends Arielle and David are getting married today! We were so bummed to miss their big day. This is one of the big downfalls about moving so far away from home. We miss out as well as miss everyone. We'll definitely have to visit them when we go back to VA to visit James' parents. I'm excited I'm planning a trip home in August for my cousin's bridal shower and to celebrate my Boppa and Nana's birthdays! How fun it will be to see everyone... I'm counting the days!!!


Now begins the real work for me....job searching! Pray for me in the endeavor... it will be very challenging. I have high hopes and a great God....anything is possible with Him! Please pray that I will have discernment in my job search. That the Lord would open the doors to a wonderful opportunity that He has planned for me and that I would be able to use my talents and gifts to their fullest. We so appreciate your prayers!!!

Grocery Baggers

There is something strange going on here with the grocery baggers in Burbank....they seem like normal people, that is until you get close. Once you have reached the counter at the front of the line they turn into actors, comedians, or theologians. At first James and I thought that perhaps it was just in one location of grocery stores. Now we have in fact confirmed that this is a city-wide pandemic.

Westward Bound Pictures!!!!

Home Sweet Home?

It's been a whirl wind of craziness....after staying with our friends Joel and Amy in Fullerton, CA for a couple of nights we were off apartment hunting in Burbank, CA. I thought that I had prepared myself for the move, and perhaps I had in my own way, but this was very different indeed. We must have looked or drove to over 40 apartments. Most of the apartments were either too run down or too expensive. We finally settled on a cute 1 bedroom apartment in a safe and nice neighborhood. The only problem is that we think we could find something cheaper, so we signed a 7 month lease. This means I can't paint the apartment like we did the last one, but at least we found an apartment. We also had to jump through a lot of hoops to get the apartment.... Nothing seemed to be easy. We also had to change our insurances on both the car and the renters insurance. The costs of both doubled at least... ouch!

The same day we were finalizing our lease, James got a call for work as a production assistant for a show with E!. It was also his birthday so we were really excited for him. The only downfall was that he was going have to be at work the next day and we had to move everything in that same day. Alsop the moving truck we paid to haul our stuff to CA was too big to park outside of our apartment. So around 5pm James an I drove out to the truck hub and unpack all of our things and re-packed them into a u-haul. Then we drove the u-haul back to our apartment community. By the time we had completed this task it was really late and we were exhausted so we went to bed. The next day I was stranded at our empty apartment because James' job needed him to have the car during the day. I also had to find a way to unpack the u-haul and return the vehicle within the next day. So I passed the day by unpacking what I could of the items in the u-haul. It was really difficult and the progress was slow. Also, most apartments in CA do not come with refrigerators so I had nothing cold to drink and the temperature was in the 80s-90s. Luckily there is a nice grocery store down the block so I made frequent trips to get cold water and feel the air conditioning. Around 7pm Joel and Amy drove 45minutes to come assist me with unpacking. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends!!!! They helped me unload almost everything from the truck while James was still at work. James got home around 9pm and was able to assist with the bigger items. By 10:30 we finally had all of our boxes and furniture in the apartment. Praise God!!!! But wow it was a crazy day!

The next day we spent briefly unpacking some things and then since we had the U-haul truck we decided to craigslist a refrigerator. We found a pretty good deal and went to go pick it up. Yes, James and I then loaded and unloaded a big fridge. It was a lot of work too, but now we can keep food cold and we didn't have to rent a U-haul again. The fridge has seen some better days but hey it works and it's another item off the check list. By the time we got it home the day was done and we were whooped. That evening I continued to trip, drop, and run into boxes... it was like a maze. I think boxes can make any place look ugly and dangerous. That night I looked at my legs and couldn't believe what I saw. My legs are covered in all kinds of bruises and scratches. It was kind of painful, and very un-attractive. The next day James had work, and I made my way unpacking...box by box. Our apartment turned into a sea of flattened boxes and trash bags with packing paper. It was really hot too! But I made progress with most of it....

Sunday James had off of work and we visited one of the Mosaic churches and we met up with our friend Josh who interns with Mosaic. It was great to see him and I really enjoyed the service. It reminded me of Frontline Arlington back in Virginia. The whole multi-site church thing and the look/feel of it. Though both are still quite different, it was nice. When we got home James wanted to go check out a car for sale so we did. It was a pretty cheap car, but in the end we didn't want to make a quick decision so we decided to wait. When we came home we assembled things and put more things away... the unpacking just doesn't seem to end....

Today, James had the day off again so we awoke, and decided to go get our license and registration taken care of. Joel and Amy gave us a little insight into the CA license procedure and informed us that we would have to take a written exam. (Which was news to us we thought they would just transfer our license over.) So this morning we read up on some of the practice tests and got all of the paper work that we needed for the DMV. I was so nervous about taking the written exam... I hate tests. I also knew that you aren't allowed to miss very many or you won't pass. If I didn't pass than I would have to re-take the exam and I had no idea when I would be able to drive to the DMV again while James and I are sharing cars. James is a great test taker so I knew he would pass with flying colors. I decided to take my time with the questions and carefully read each one. As I was still taking my test, James had already completed his and I heard them telling him congratulations on passing the exam. So the pressure was on... I finally turned in my test.... and I passed!!! Yay! I only missed one more question than James did too! James and I are now registered drivers with a registered car in the state of CA. So this too was a huge blessing! It would have been incredibly difficult to coordinate another day and time to take care of our DMV responsibilities. Praise God for making this one easy.

Tonight James and I have been going through the remaining boxes... I think we have 4 or 5 left. The temperatures have been extremely hot and the ac in the apartment isn't the best it only cools one room and the windows aren't much help. We're still trying to figure out the best way to get our apartment cooler. James likes to walk around with a wet towel on... it makes me laugh :) We have a few things still left to buy... our apartment doesn't come with a microwave, we need to get a new file cabinet ours broke in the move, and we need to fix the coffee table... another moving causality. But all in all we're making progress one step at a time. James is also keeping his eye out for a car so I can begin my job hunt and go on interviews. Busy times for James and I, we're pushing hard to get the "have to's" done so we can maybe get a day off to play at the beach. James tells me the road trip isn't over until we make it to the beach, I think I agree. I'll be happy when we can join the real world and forget all the getting settled stuff... that will be nice... I think.

Road Trip Out West - We're Here!

Well.... we didn't have any internet access for the rest of the trip so we're here! We made it to California!!! After visiting with our friends in Nashville, TN we made our way to Dallas, TX. The drive there was very pleasant and fairly easy. We were in Dallas, TX by around 5pm and stayed with our friends Chase and Elizabeth. It was a great time to catch up with them and to hang out since it had been 2 years since I had last seen Elizabeth. We played a game of settlers, sampled Elizabeth's wonderful cake, and then went off to bed. We got an early start the next morning for our long trip to Tuscon, AZ. We left Dallas, TX around 6:30am. It was a long drive and I learned a very interesting fact too.... everyone in Texas drives a white truck. I also pulled over for the first time.... it was terrible... luckily I only got a warning. We passed many desolate looking areas as well as driving extremely close to the Mexico border which was pretty interesting too! We finally made it to Tuscon, AZ at James' Aunt and Uncles house where there was cactus plants, mountains, and warm weather. It was lovely. We had a great time hanging out with James' family. We went hiking up bear mountain the next day, and saw Tuscon wild west style at a themed dinner area. It was so much fun and James' family is amazing! Lots of fun!

On Friday we took off from Tucson, AZ at 6:30 to visit the Sadona and the Grand Canyon and camp there for a night. The drive was very pretty with many cactus plants, mountains, and sun. Seeing the scenery change as the land elevation changed was amazing. Sadona was a beautiful red rock area. We hiked in Sadona and then went into they're shopping area. It was absolutely wonderful and beautiful. We stopped at a cafe for lunch to split a sandwich and homemade slice of apple pie. It was great! Then it was off to the Grand Canyon. We made it there by 4pm and we were able to get one of the last camp sites at the national park. So we set up our tent and sleeping bags and then headed to the lookout point to get a view of the Grand Canyon at sunset. It was breath taking! I couldn't believe how amazing the canyon was!!! I loved it and how the mountains themselves looked painted. It is truly a lovely sight well worth the drive. The only part that I didn't enjoy was James pretended to jump off the cliff.

That night we cooked hot dogs on an open fire and went to bed in our tent. The Grand Canyon is really rocky and cold. So next time I would bring a mattress pad and warmer clothes. It was a beautiful night to sit by the fire and look at the stars. We awoke the next morning and make breakfast on the campfire. Then we hit the showers and took to the trails. We hiked down a beautiful trail that if we had more time to continue on the trail it would have taken us down to the bottom of the canyon. But the part we did was a great workout and was quite amazing. After the hike we drove on to California. The drive was really boring and there was literally nothing in between flagstaff and the Bristol, CA. It was so strange. But then the city life began to pick up as we drove closer to the LA area. It was a tough drive but we're here and staying with our friends Amy and Joel. We'll go to church with them tomorrow and then it is off to apartment hunt. I'm so excited to get out,look around, and to find a place to call home. Well that was a brief summary of our road trip.... it could be awhile before we get our apartment and are able to upload the photos but maybe we'll post our video soon once James finishes editing it. It was a great trip and our friends and family made the trip a wonderful memory! Praise God for getting us here safely... now to just find an apartment and jobs :)