100th Post

This is our 100th post. Very cool:) Its also the day that marks two weeks in Monterey. It feels like we've been here longer. Maybe a year or two? We've settled in a lot better than I thought we would and we're adjusting to life here really well. I think its because it suits us perfectly. Its a combination of the places that Leif and I both grew up. Him, in Oregon, surrounded by trees and I in Southern California, never far from the ocean.

We went down to the beach tonight. And while we were running in and out of the cold waves, I just felt at peace. I felt like we were exactly where we are suppose to be. I felt like we were home. Then I thought, maybe we could live here for awhile, not just a year or two, but raise Riley here. On our quick drive home, Leif brought up staying here and raising Riley and I told him I felt the same way. I love moments like that:)!

I also love when I have my own life plans and God comes in and changes them completely. It makes for never a dull moment. We're so grateful to have been brought here and excited for what God has in store.

Happy News!

I am heading back to school in the Fall:) I've been out of school now for about a year, and I'm finally ready to go back. Because I had gone to a Christian school and had a major that won't transfer to a public college, I had to change my major. As much as I loved my old major I feel as if I'll like my new major even more. I have become an art major with an emphasis in photography. I am thrilled and beyond excited. I want summer to end right now so I can start. I can't wait to be learning more about photography, about studio photography, film, lighting, the dark room, using equipment in addition to my camera, more photoshop... Can't wait!

God is so good!

To celebrate here is one of my favorite bands:

Do a little dance for me:)

7 month old baby.

Riley is 7 months old today.
My little baby is crawling everywhere, standing, climbing over things and taking steps with help.
Just yesterday she could barely turn over :)
And I'm pretty sure she's teething again.

Happy 7 months baby girl.

By the way, who does Riley look like so far? Me or Leif?

2009's best music.

I listen to NPR's All Songs Considered pod cast, follow them on twitter and I'm Bob Boilen, the main DJ's friend on facebook. I love ASC basically. And NPR. Recently Boilen asked people what their favorite albums were so far this year. Here's a handful of songs from my favorite albums:


Passion Pit's album Manners


From Grizzly Bear's album Veckatimest


From Neko Case's album Middle Cyclone


From Animal Collective's album Merriweather Post Pavillion

This is turning out to be a wonderful year for music. Its just half over! So much more to come:)
What albums do you love so far?

Also, I have started a new photo blog: Les photos et leurs Histoires.

Food and blessings.

A stratta with peppers/tomatoes/ham.
I got the original recipe from Jacqueline

Rosemary Potatoes.

Recipe from my mom.

Grilled veggies.
From Trader Joes.

Before I married Leif I never cooked. I could make things like eggs and pancakes but nothing too serious. I didn't enjoy cooking and would rather spend my time somewhere else other than the kitchen. When Leif and I did get married though, I vowed I would learn how to cook. But then I got pregnant and decided to put off cooking for a bit. Leif was usually in charge of meals. A few times he expressed to me that this was a bit frustrating and I would roll my eyes and remind him that I was pregnant.

This really bothered me though, and I felt like such a terrible wife. I had promised to serve him and take care of him. And while there are plenty of others ways I could and can do that, he wanted me to do that through cooking. Well a a few months back I got serious about cooking and when I did that, I realized that I loved it. I also love that this is another way I can bless and serve my husband. Which is something that is very important to me. I love that I am now able to help my husband start his day off with breakfast and have dinner waiting for him when he gets home. :)

Its fun to bless others through food.


So far my favorite thing to make has been twice baked potatoes. So simple and easy. Plus you can be really creative with them!

What is your favorite dish to cook?

A perk.

Last night after dinner Leif suggested we take a drive to the beach. I'm still adjusting to the idea of it being 2-3 miles away. I'm so used to driving 30-45 minutes to get to a beach. I used to think that was close:) We bundled Riley up and headed out. Of course we brought the camera so here are some pictures:

I'm looking forward to many more trips to the beach:)!

Monterey Bay Aquarium on Father's Day

Sunday was my first Father's Day. Margaret and Riley took me to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and we bought a family membership as my present. We weren't sure if Riley would even care about any of the fish/creatures, but she ended up loving it. The nice thing about having a membership is that you don't have to see everything in one visit to get your money's worth. We spent a couple hours there, which was about all Riley could handle, but we enjoyed every minute of it. Rather than talk about it, I'll just post some pictures. Also, if any of you plan on coming to visit, we're thinking of upgrading to the fancy membership which gets you two free guest passes you can use year round; so if anyone ever wants to come to the aquarium with us, just stop by Monterey some weekend and Riley will show you around the place. :)

Flounder's changing color.

Monterey... So far.

We are enjoying Monterey. We really like the weather and we really like living 2 miles from the beach. Its fun living somewhere you've never lived before:) So much exploring can be done. So many adventures can take place. We've barely begun to scratch the surface. We've gone into town a few times, driven around, walked a bit. There is a lot to do up here. We're trying to tackle Monterey and the surrounding areas before we even head up to Santa Cruz, Big Sur, Berkeley and San Fran. I am looking forward to that though! We have good friends up that way and the more north you go the better the camping.
We're looking into getting bikes, especially since Leif lives within a mile of his new job. Its such a nice place to bike. So beautiful and peaceful. We are also looking into getting into hiking. There are a lot of good trails we want to try out. I love the idea of hiking on the ocean yet being amongst tall trees. Best of both worlds:)
Also, our new favorite thing to do is Thrift Store & antique shop. We picked up these antique glasses the other day at the Salvation Army.

Then today we went to a consignment store that was similar to Buffalo Exchange, but its nicer and the prices are a lot better. Its nice to be able to get rid of clothes and in return get different clothes. I love it. I support any form of recycling.

Keep us in your prayers, we're about to start church shopping... I hate calling it that. I know God has a church home for us, and I know He'll lead us there. I just want to remember to trust Him and allow Him to do the choosing for us, not us.

We're here.

We are all moved in. Most of our boxes are unpacked and we're slowly getting organized. We haven't ventured out too much. Mostly runs to Target and World Market. Tonight we did visit the Farmers Market, which is something we went to every Friday night in Monrovia. We were happy to find out that there was one about 5 minutes from our new place, that takes place every Tuesday night. I love getting fresh vegetables and handmade earrings:)

I'm a little overwhelmed by the moving, having a cranky baby who is crawling, pulling herself up to stand and getting into everything, unpacking and organizing, being in a place that's completely new and not having a church to go to. So stressed. God is good though and I know He's going to bless us here.

On Our Way.

We're all packed up and on our way... Almost. We're staying overnight at my parents and leaving tomorrow morning. Bright and early. I'm looking forward to the 5 hour drive because I get to spend it with my sister. So thankful she's coming with me. Not only because it'll be helpful with the baby, but it will be wonderful to just talk and enjoy each others company.

I'm excited because we're embarking on our new adventure. God is so good! Please pray the drive goes well and safely!

Leif and his 30+shoes.
I only own about 7 pairs. Ridiculous.

Saying Goodbye.

I don't like to say goodbye. I avoid it at all costs. I'm not sure why I hate it so much, but I do. Tonight I had to say goodbye. I didn't cry, but I almost did. A good friend of ours threw us a wonderful going away party. I got threw all of the goodbyes but when it came time for me to say goodbye to him, I wanted to cry. I hated the idea of being far away and not having random visits from him. I've been really positive about moving, looking forward to the change and the adventure. But this week has been so hard on me. Its set in that my friends are now going to be hours away, not minutes. We actually have to plan in advance for their visits and may go months without seeing them. How scary is that?

Never in my life have I ever had to start over. Even going away to college I knew a good amount of people. Actually, I could go anywhere in Southern California and know people. But now at 21, I'm finally (for reals) going to be on my own. Its so foreign to me and this week I really wondered if I could do it. Am I strong enough to start from scratch? I cried a lot this week and prayed. Tonight made me dread Sunday even more. I love dinner parties that include good conversation and dancing. So comfortable and perfect. At the same time though it made me wish it was here already. I think I'm kind of looking forward to being out of my comfort zone. I am so grateful for the wonderful people who have been by my side the last few years, especially the last four. God has blessed me and shown me His grace and love through their friendships. I know He'll provide that again. I just have to trust and be patient. I've also decided that I'm not really going to be saying goodbye because really I'll see all these people again. Maybe not every week but for weekend visits and holidays, which I'll take!

Also, here are some pictures I took at Disneyland the other day:

I think Riley enjoyed her first trip.

I think this was Riley's favorite part. Sitting on daddy's shoulders.

Some photos: Celebration Sunday.

Last Sunday our church had a celebration in honor of our pastors 25 years with the church. It was basically an amazing big picnic. I snapped a few photos since it was our last Sunday. I wanted to remember the day. It was so wonderful. Nothing like worshiping Jesus amongst trees and grass, barefoot:)













I need to get on the packing. We're behind. I've been spending a lot of time editing photos and trying new stuff out on photoshop. Its too much fun. Plus Riley has become a lot more fun to play with so I've been devoting a lot of time to making her laugh instead of packing boxes. Nothing wrong with staying up all night Friday to pack:)

Mykonos

by Fleet Foxes.


Leif and I love Fleet Foxes. They're so talented and had one of the best albums of 2008. We got to see them last year in September while I was pregnant. We took the metro and some buses in LA to get there. It was seriously one of the best nights of my life. One of my favorite memories of my pregnancy. :) Enjoy.

6 Days

We're 6 days away from moving. 6 days away from becoming residents of the bay area. 6 days away from finally having a dishwasher. 6 days away from having our own backyard. 6 days away from being completely on our own. 6 days away from leaving family and friends and basically starting over... 6 days away from our new adventure!
People keep asking me how I feel about it, and honestly I'm so excited and anxious. I want to move already. At the same time though, I'm having a hard time with the idea of leaving people, especially my parents and my church family. I know God is going to bring people into our lives, people that will bless us in many ways. I just wish I could just bring everyone with me:)

Intercession

Hi Margaret,
In praying for you and your family, the Lord has shown me a beautiful image of you and Leif reaching out to those whom the church normally would not. That is powerful for the Kingdom of God and a ministry in great need. Keep seeking Him for your calling in Christ Jesus.

Last night someone sent me this message and it really meant a lot to me. First, that someone was praying specifically for Leif and I, and that God put this on their heart. And second, that He has a plan for us. Ever since we found out about Monterey I felt like God was leading us there to do something great for His Kingdom.

Continue to pray.

Hallelujah!

I love this picture so much.
I feel like it says so much about my relationship with Leif
&the love we share.
I'm happy I get to serve God with him.

Packing Party

So I got this idea to have a Packing Party from my friend Megan, and I thought what a good way to get some packing done and over with! Well between 4-12 last night we had folks coming and out, there was a lot of eating, wine-drinking, and socializing. Not one box got packed:) I wasn't bummed about it though because I got to spend time with my favorite people and I'm not really sure when that will happen again.

Here are some pictures from last night:











Thanks to everyone who came out:) I'm sorry we didn't snap pictures of everyone, eek. Next time!