Lena, my sister-in-law, was married to Mark Comer on September 12, 2009. Lena trusted me enough to actually take her wedding photos. I’m almost finished editing all of them, but I wanted to give her a sneak peek of some of the photos.

Our friend Jon also helped with the photography that day. Thanks Jon.

Enjoy Lena and Mark and congrats once again!

Mark’s first glance at Lena walking down the aisle:

 Here’s another song I just cannot stop listening to by Thrice. It’s about not giving up on your marriage even though tough times are guaranteed.

When other bands or music groups sing about using women, pursuing relationships to meet selfish desires, or just singing about how many girls they can get at the “club” (lol), Thrice sings about the importance of your marriage vows. Yes, it is because they are awesome. Everyone should buy their CD.

Listen to the song HERE.

The Weight

There’s many who’ll tell you they’ll give you their love,
But when they say “give” they mean “take.”
They’ll hang ‘round just like vultures till push comes to shove;
They’ll take flight when the earth starts to shake.

Someone may say that they’ll always be true,
Then slip out the door ‘fore the dawn.
But I won’t leave you hanging on.
Another may stay till they find someone new,
Then before you know they’ll be gone.
But I won’t leave you hanging on;
No, I won’t be that someone.

[chorus]
And come what may, I won’t abandon you or leave you behind
Because love is a loyalty sworn, not a burning for a moment.
And come what may, I will be standing right here by your side;
I won’t run away, though the storm’s getting worse and there’s no end in sight.

Some talk of destiny, others of fate,
But soon they’ll be saying goodbye.
But I won’t leave you high and dry.
Because a ring don’t mean nothing
If you can’t haul the weight,
And some of them won’t even try,
But I won’t leave you high and dry;
I won’t leave you wondering why.

And storms will surely come,
But true love is a choice you must make
And you’re the one that I have set my heart to choose.
As long as I live, I swear I’ll see this through.

Kimdoes this on her blog occasionally … I think it’s fun, so I’m going to do it too! Here’s a quick re-cap of what I’ve been doing this week.

WHAT I’M READING: Just finished reading I Promise, by Gary Smalley. It’s a great book on marriage. Aaron’s reading it now.

WHAT I’M WATCHING: The Biggest Loser started again, so I am really into that. Also The Office of course. As I type this I’m watching a Law & Order marathon. Any time is a good time for Law & Order.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: Constantly listening to Thrice’s Beggars (see the previous post). Such an awesome CD, go buy it right now!

WHAT I’M WEARING: I’ve been enjoying wearing high heels again, it’s the best part of getting dressed for work.

WHAT I’M EATING: Went over to my friend Amy and Chuck’s house tonight for tacos. I’ve been trying to eat more healthy lately, don’t really know how successful I’ve been.

WHAT I’M ENJOYING: Enjoyed spending some time with Kim, Evan and Derek today. Also had fun with co-workers at happy hour and trying a new form of exercise this week (yoga).

WHAT I’M SNIFFING: Tonight I was with my church’s high school ministry … I had forgotten what high school boys smelled like.

One of Aaron and my favorite bands, Thrice, came out with a new album recently. It’s AWESOME and AMAZING! It’s the only thing we play at our apartment right now.

Their lyrics are deep  and powerful. I feel good when I listen to their music. The meanings behind their songs are more than skin deep, they can touch you to your core if you understand them with your heart.

One of my new favorite songs is called “In Exile.” It’s about not being content with what Earth has to offer and knowing that you don’t belong here … and longing for something more.

I am an exile – a sojourner; a citizen of some other place.

All I’ve seen is just a glimmer in a shadowy mirror,

But I know one day I’ll see face to face.

 

I am a nomad – a wanderer; I have nowhere to lay my head down.

There’s no point in putting roots too deep when I’m moving on;

I’m not settling for this unsettling town.

 

(chorus)

My heart is filled with songs of forever -

Of a city that endures, where all is made new.

I know I don’t belong here; I’ll never

Call this place my home, I’m just passing through.

 

I am a pilgrim – a voyager. I won’t rest until my lips touch the shore

Of the land that I’ve been longing for as long as I’ve lived,

Where there’ll be no pain or tears anymore.

You can also listen to the song HERE.

Happy Birthday!

I had the pleasure at being at three birthday parties these past few months for little ones turing 1.

They are all cute in their own unique ways and I love every minute that I get to see them. One of my favorite things to watch is their reaction to eating their first bite of cake. These babies have not ever had a sugar load quite like this before. They are always a little confused at first, but quickly get the hang of it after a few bites. It’s fun to see cake all over their face and eventually get it in their hair and clothes.

Enjoy these pictures of my one-year-old friends!

Happy birthday Ben:

Happy birthday Amelia:

Happy birthday Evan:

My sister Brittany just started college AND recently started a blog! I love it when people start blogging

Visit her site and encourage her with comments as she navigates her first year of college.

brittanybee2.wordpress.com

Or today … September 1st.

I’ll be working at the Navy’s Fleet and Family Support Center where I live as a program administrative assistant.

People keep asking me what I’ll be doing. Well, I’ll be assisting on the administrative side of the Navy’s support programs.

Once I get into it, I’ll write another post about what I’ll be doing exactly … I really don’t know all my duties right now. There’s a lot of paperwork involved when you work with the military, so tomorrow I will spend most of my time with HR filling out forms.

I’ll keep you all updated on how the job is going. Just pray that I can wake up on time each morning!

Don’t get me wrong, I really like living in San Diego, more specifically Coronado. I’m thankful I didn’t have to move outside of Southern California once I got married. But I still miss things about Los Angeles and the life I had there.

First, I miss living with all my girls! I was lucky that I got a three month transition period from living with all my best friends and moving in with Aaron. When you live with girls your closest is automatically twice as big. I went to a wedding a few months back and realized that I didn’t have Whitney’s strappy black shoes to borrow. When I got tired of my shirts, I’d raid Lindsay’s closest to find something “new.”

When Aaron gets new clothes (which happens rarely) I ask him to show them to me and try them on for me when he gets home. He never does. As girls, we would come home and parade around in our new stuff, gathering around and saying how cute everything was (Jen always had the cutest shoes). He doesn’t seem to like to watch the TV show Friends either, which is just baffeling to me. I have to call Alysha to get a Friends quote fix.

Second, I miss the city. I miss rollar blading at Venice Beach, walking on the Santa Monica Pier and working in Century City. Venice Beach is a very unique beach city and the atmosphere there cannot be found in San Diego. I also miss Sunset Blvd and West Hollywood. Although I didn’t go there as much as I did in college the past two years, there was always a good show going on somewhere.

I have found special spots for myself down here in San Diego. I enjoy going to Balboa Park, taking pictures there and listening to the free summer concerts. I enjoy walking in Tidelands Park by my apartment and going to the Coronado library. There are fun things to do here, it’s just different from Los Angeles.

Third, I miss my church, Vineyard Christian Fellowship Westside. This is not to say that I don’t like the church I attend now, Canyon View Christian Fellowship. Canyon View has great small groups, it supports 100 missionary families and individuals, and we are starting to get involved with their high school ministry.

Vineyard Westside seemed to be designed for me. I attended the 11am Sunday service, but never got there at 11am. I was lucky to get there by 11:05, mostly getting there at 11:10 … I left my apartment at 11. But that’s when everyone got there. That’s why they had a 25-30 min opening worship set. If you got to church early, you’d be sitting in the sanctuary by yourself. The service was 1 1/2 hours long, sometimes longer. I don’t like it when churches try to cram everything into an hour. I like a nice solid music/worship set and a good, unrushed sermon.

What I miss the most about Vineyard is the worship experience. I wouldn’t call it a charasmatic church, but it has more of that vibe than your typical church. Most people raise their hands, it’s not unusual for the congregation to spontaneously applause during certain lines of a song, and even though the music is loud, you can always, ALWAYS hear everyone singing over the band.

There are a few songs that Vineyard Westside sings that I have yet to hear at Canyon View. Although I can listen to these songs on my ipod and sing along, there is something powerful about a group of people singing to their creator in unison. I miss hearing and singing these songs. It’s what has spurred this whole post on what I miss about Los Angeles. I’m hoping that soon my new church will be singing these songs.

Here are two songs that Vineyard Westside sings regulary that I miss.

Revelation Song (one of my all-time favorite worship songs):

Jesus Paid it All:

On August 8th we went to Aaron’s Aunt Lori’s wedding in Lancaster. It was fun to hang out with his family for the night.

Fun fact: Aunt Lori is actually Aaron’s mom’s twin! Even though now I can tell them apart, it was weird to glance at Lori out of the corner of my eye, and I would think that Aaron’s mom, Kelli, was in a wedding dress!

Kelli and Lori: