Archive for October 2008

as i was...

coming out of sleep this morning, the words "for i know" were repeating over and over in my mind. don't be freaked out, this is not a scary story:) i was half asleep and half awake and the words were flashing, i don't know if they were visible or audible or what, i just know they were there. after a few moments, i was finally mostly awake and i whispered them just to see if hearing them would make sense of them...and it did. these words are the first three words of jer 29:11. so i picked up my little leather bound book and opened it to page 656 and underlined are the words "for i know". i obviously read a little further and thought i would share, because sharing is caring:)

for i know the plans i have for you
declares the Lord, plans for wholeness
and not for evil, to give you a future
and a hope. then you will call upon me 
and come and pray to me, and i will hear 
you. you will seek me and find me. when
you seek me with all your heart, i will be
found by you, declares the Lord, and i will 
restore your fortunes and gather you from 
all the nations and the places where i have
driven you, declares the Lord, and i will
bring you back to the place from which i 
sent you into exile.

the part that really jumped out at me is, "when you seek me with your whole heart, i will be found by you." how lovely is that?
anywho, happy halloween:) be safe and have tons of wonderful fun!

100...

this is it:) my 100th post. it has been quite some time since my last one and i wish i could say it is out of laziness that i have been lagging but that would be a lie:) life has been so full lately and while i am enjoying it, i would really love a little break from all the chaos. why so busy? you may be asking. i know, i have been wondering myself. i think it has something to do with working tons and no breaks for the past couple sundays which has stripped me of my much needed and so loved sunday afternoon naps...they will return:)
i have been working coffee lately and what a great experience it is. this past saturday we did an augie's field trip, a two year anniversary celebration and it was amazing. we visited our roaster and there we were schooled by a pretty neat barista. really, those little gold things, i think they call them medals, pretty much say it all. after, we had a boating experience in balboa...we saw hissing seals...i was a little nervous about it but all went well. we ended our trip with dinner at the melting pot and it was brilliant. if you have never experienced the melting pot, i highly recommend it. it was my first time and what a treat it was. i would post photos but i don't have any right now so check back later:)
my parents just celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. 30 years. what a good day. God is good. fall is beginning to break through. i have been waiting for the cool crisp morning air and i know it has not arrived yet but it is coming...it has to be coming, it is almost november. halloween is just a couple days away and i am pretty excited. i work. but i will be dressed for halloween success...i am going to be lumber jane this year:) what more can i say?
well, i am certain someone is celebrating a birthday today, so happy birthday...
...over and out:)
ps...dorothy, we will finish our chat soon:)

i think it is finally here:)

autumn that is. i was blog browsing, don't act like you don't do it:), and i found this little fall questionnaire and it is the loveliest little list of questions for the fall, so i thought it would make a nice ninety-ninth post... and i am even using a nice fall color:) the next one will be one hundred.


When does fall begin for you? 
they were actually two very distinct moments. the first came two sundays ago. it was at sunset and i was on my way to church and i experience the most lovely sunset of the year...at least i think so:) anywho, it was a cool night and the sunset was golden. everything around had this lovely golden tint and it was wonderful. it left me with a really nice feeling inside and that was the day the marked the beginning of fall. a second one was last friday night at a girl's study at nick and amberlee's house. it smelled like warm spices and pumpkin and fall! and it was chilly outside! def. a fall moment:)

What is your favorite aspect of fall? 
watching the leaves go from green to all sorts of fun colors like red and orange and yellow and brown. alsothe cool weather that bring forth the wearing of coats and scarves. and hot chocolate and pumpkins. mostly the somberness that comes about this time of year. people seem to really calm down and that is always a pleasant experience.

What is your favorite fall memory? 
a trip to oak glen and the pumpkin patch with my closest friends. we made a day out of it and it was just delightful.

What do you like to drink in the fall? 
hot chocolate, hot apple cider, and cinnamon honey lattes...lots of honey because it takes the coffee taste away:)
ps...the latte thing is very new.

What’s your favorite fall food? 
oatmeal with brown sugar, broccoli cheese soup, almond or pecan pie, buttermilk mashed potatoes, and the list goes on and on:) 

What is fall weather like where you live? 
wonderful, you can actually experience the change here. 

What color is fall? 
orange, mustard yellow, and brown.

What does fall smell like? 
like apple or pumpkin pie, but i tend to go with apple because i don't eat pumpkin. also like cinnamon and brown sugar. it smells like wood burning in the fireplace. it smells clean and earthy, i don't know if it is because we are surrounded by leaves once they fall, or because the wind blows the mountain air down, or if it because of the rain, but it smells earthy.  

Holiday shopping in fall: 
i try to get most of it done in the fall. 

If you could go anywhere in the fall, where would you go? 
somewhere on the east coast.

What is your favorite fall sport? 
sitting next to the fireplace with a book in my hand and hot chocolate close by ready to be sipped when i call timeout:) 

Do you have a favorite fall chore? 
cleaning is year round fun:)

What is your least favorite thing about fall? 
the waiting for fall part. these past couple of weeks have been such a tease. it is hot during the week and when the weekend hits, we get a chill...i am ready for it to be 100 percent fall:)

What is your favorite fall holiday? 
i believe it is thanksgiving but i really like halloween too. 

What’s your favorite kind of pie? 
almond or pecan pie.

Which do you prefer, the Farm or the Fair? 
the farm.

Do you have a favorite fall book?
why do leaves change colors? you can find it in the children's section at your local barnes and noble.

How about a favorite fall poem or quote?
october by robert frost.
o hushed october morning mild,
thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,
should waste them all.
the crows above the forest call;
tomorrow they may form and go.
o hushed october morning mild,
begin the hours of this day slow.
hearts not averse to being beguiled,
beguile us in the way you know.
release one leaf at break of day;
at noon release another leaf;
one from our trees, one far away.
retard the sun with gentle mist;
enchant the land amethyst.
slow, slow!
for the grapes' sake, if they were all,
whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
whose clustered fruit must else be lost-
for the grapes' sake along the wall.



augie's part 2:

I posted this sometime ago but i finally added the missing faces to the pile so i thought i would repost it:)
today is wednesday and it is september so make it a good day. fall is so very near. anywho, this post is a special one because it is about work and it will have photos:) i have been working at a cool coffee house for just about a month now and it has been terrific. the name of this place is augie'sand it was named after the owner's granddad, sweet right? it is the only red building in town so it stands out a tad but i mean that in the best way. every tuesday night (perhaps it is still monday... we are not certain:) a jazz band comes and plays in the alley right next to the shop. dim lights, coffee/tea, music, and the alley are an almost perfect combination. there isn't anything missing but i always hear that there is not such thing as perfect so i thought the "almost" would fit:) the photo to the left is a photo of augie. people, myself being one, sometimes think there is no real augie but i actually saw him once... he is not myth:) anywho, moving along, this place is run by a young married couple. 

to the right is a photo of the owners, chad and erika. i think it is important to tell you a little about chad's shirt because it is great. it belonged to his granddad and it has a brown patch on the right elbow. i noticed it a while back and i just think it is brilliant. erika is his other half and augie belongs to her family:) she just got a perm last week to add some volume to her already lovely hair... it looks very nice. they have been happily married for four years which makes them still newlyweds in my opinion. anywho, they make coffee. they are good at what they do. i have really enjoyed watching them work together because they do it so well and well, i don't know of many married couples that would be good at working together. i don't know that i like that very much because i think it would be nice for married couples to enjoy doing things together. there are some out there and this couple fits in to the some. erika has been a huge help in my learning of milk steaming. Moving on to 

mike. this guy to the left is mike aka big mike aka miguel. he is married to the cutest lady every and they have two lovely kids. mike is amazing at latte art... really. perhaps you still don't believe me. well, this thursday night he is leaving for the land of coffee up north where he will be competing in a latte art competition. there are two hundred people competing and he is one of those two hundred. he cuts his own hair too and it looks terrific. anywho, i have had the opportunity to work with mike more often these past couple weeks and i have greatly enjoyed his guidance and milk steaming help. and there is 

zack attack! yes, believe it or not, my good friend zack and i landed the same job at augies! when we first started we worked together all the time because both of us had no idea what we were doing. now that we are a bit more competent, we can work alongside others:) sometimes when i am working and he isn't he comes in with his computer and sits at a table and says he is doing homework. i don't know if the homework part is true:) anywho, zack is working and also going to school to be an english teacher. that is one thing i am a bit envious of, the whole going to school thing that is. anywho, he really loves his class and the people in the class and what he is learning so that is really great. he is also into photography and he does it very well. he shots weddings and stuff for magazines and so on. he is going to be moving to downtown redlands this week to be closer to work and to school. he is gaining one super cool place and even better, one super cool roommate. from zack we will move on to 
gentry. gentry is one of the sweetest gals in town. i have to say that i quite enjoy opening with her. she is really great at keeping a smile on her face throughout the day and there is just something really positive about that. there are not too many people who can keep happy throughout a whole day but i think gentry is someone who is able...how neat is that? speaking of neat, what about that name: gentry. she is the one and only gentry i know and i don't know if i will ever run into another gentry. besides being a super sweet lady, she is going to school to be a masseuse. a couple weeks ago, i slept really wrong on my neck, i mean really wrong, because it hurt me for a couple days:( anywho, one day gentry was at work and when she got off her shift, she was kind enough to help my neck. it felt better within just a few hours and that my friends, was kind of her. and last but not least, gentry is a musician. i really respect that about her, what a cool cat. and she makes one crazy cinnamon honey latte.
from gentry we will move on to brian. brian is really great at steaming milk. and erika told me that he can be pretty creative with his latte art, something i have yet to master. it is almost as if it just comes naturally for him...that is not the case with me but i am better...at steaming milk that is:) so anyway, brian is not only good with coffee, he too is a very gifted musician. my friend james told me about him and some time later i heard him do music and it was just as james had said, he was good. he leads the music at this hip little place in redlands, it is called restoration. he and his crew do a pretty terrific job. he is going to school to become... educated. i don't think i know what he wants to be when he grows up but i am sure whatever it is, he will be good at it. i worked a shift with brian for the first time on saturday and it was truly enjoyable. we made coffee, cleaned, and even had time for conversation. after brian
meet terry... terry if you are reading this, i fixed my misspelling of your name:) anywho, this is
 terry and he does not work at augies. he actually works at this really neat place up the street and around the corner called the pantry. terry would not smile for the phone so in the photo he looks a tad miserable but he is really not:) terry and his wife esther are just wonderful people. they are kind and thoughtful and in my book, that goes a long way. i like seeing terry every time i come in to work because he lets me make drinks for him... my choice:) if you are ever in the area the pantry is a place you want to check out! 
on to the customers. one of the greatest things about working at augie's besides working
with an amazing group of people, is the people you get to meet. the second photo is my friend james... sometimes i want to call him jams, i don't know why. anywho, james is a brilliant artist. i have known him since jh and it has truly been so neat knowing him all these years. all of the art hanging on the walls in the photos belong to him. the first photo is tom. tom comes in every day for a cup of coffee and for 
conversation. i just can't begin to explain how much i enjoy his company. and his suspenders, he wears different ones every day:) the last two guys are regulars as well. they are brothers and they are just so funny. the one on the bottom  just got into ucla's art program and he has been painting for a very short time but i hear he is a natural. i have not seen his work yet but if he made it to ucla it must be decent:) the one in the brown shirt is in high school and he plays the drums. they are both really neat fellows. all of our customers are really terrific. it is the place to be. there are so many great things i could say about my current place of employment but it would take a sit down conversation, i think. so i will just leave it at, it is a really neat place to work:)
enjoy today.



it is fall...

but so hot....i don't like that very much. i am waiting for leaves to change, for long walks in crisp weather, for the opportunity to crunch leaves during those walks, for goosebumps due to being cold(but not too cold:), to hot chocolate(it is no good when it is hot out), to visiting oak glen and the pumpkin patch(the weather has to be right for it), for those crazy golden sunsets like the one from sunday night, and so on. when i was younger, i loved summer. it was beach season, it was hot, it was perfect. i think as time has gone by, i have really learned to appreciate the fall. there is something so special about this season. the somber feeling of it. it seems like everything slows down. it is the season of reflecting, i think. 

anywho, it is friday, the end of the week and i feel like i have an important announcement to make...well, i do have an important announcement to make. this week has been filled with ups and downs. it was just one of those weeks were you just have to pray that you are able to see the good things in everyday because everything seems not good. anyway, i have seen good things in the week, i am not a complete downer. and this is where the announcing part comes in:)
first, and probably most important, my big sister ceci got engaged on wednesday:) there are no photos yet but when they come i will post. she has been seeing this guy for  a while now and well, he is a good one and they are on their way to marital bliss...ok, i will probably not make that kind of statement again:) anywho, this will be the first of the siblings to make this step in life so it is a pretty big deal for the fam. it is crazy. but ultra exciting. 
second, my loan was approved. that is all i really want to say about this ordeal. it was a terrible experience and i am glad it is over. my first announcement is the better of the two:)
think happy thoughts.

ps...i have never really had a reason to google wedding rings but i had the urge to do so today, so here are the things i found:
from top to bottom:
photo 1: perhaps the most modern approach, from the options courtesy of google.
photo 2: engraved rings...some people like that...ultra old school.
photo 3: tattoo rings, they are with you forever:)
photo 4: ahahahahaha...the most creative option out there:)