Checking Out of the Hotel California

After months of planning, moving day is FINALLY here! My heart is a jumble of emotions, as I say good-bye to friends and family (and temperate climate) and welcome a whole new adventure in my life. Don't think I won't keep you updated...I hear I'll be inside a LOT this winter in Duluth! Some good stories are sure to come...

If you have a couple extra ticks, please pray for me in the next few days as my friend, Suzanne, and I weather some less-than-lovely road conditions on our LONG trek to Minnesota.

I'll be catching you on the flipside...

Christmas Means God Understands.

Bye------iola.

Today my career as a Credential Analyst and Academic Advisor comes to a close.
My time at Biola University has given me wonderful opportunities.
-Meeting and praying with college students on a regular basis
-Travelling to and teaching in Morocco
-Leading trips to the capitol in Sacramento
-Stopping for hazelnut blended mochas in the middle of the afternoon
-Working on a project for the American Institute of Research
-Gaining graduate units in a Masters program
-Listening to amazing speakers at chapel
-Acquiring insight into teacher credentialing
-Worshiping with a different generation
-Enjoying the fine cuisine of the "caf"
-Meeting great friends and working with super people


Blessings on the Journey, Biolans.
Thank you for being a part of my life.

Things are About to Get Loco.

18 girls.
8 different wines from Europe.
5 types of cheese.
4 unspeakable words.
3 wacky games.
2 panty-pops.
1 wine expert striking a remarkable resemblence to Matt Schartz.
Countless inappropriate comments.

Mix it all up for one hootenanny of a going-away fiesta!




And then there were sad moments...

I'm going to miss these girls.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

-2 degrees when I stepped off the plane in Duluth.
I survived my first Wind Chill advisory.
And it wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be (gasp!).

I went back to Minnesota for a couple days last week, and caught my first taste of winter, Northland-style. Ahhhh, yeah. Some highlights from the weekend:
-Seeing what will be my new home come April 26th! Chris was excited to show me around his recently purchased home. And, yes, it has a heater.

-Enjoying a Campfire Mocha at Caribou Coffee. It may be my new Starbucks.

-Buying some new jackets (on sale!) for the January winter.
-Meeting up with some of Chris' colleagues for dinner and drinks.

-Successfully manuevering around the city in a car.
-Scoping out the home where I'll be staying for the next couple months...it's a sweet upgrade, complete with sauna. And this is what their street looks like...

-Being with Chris...with no attached itinerary for our time together.
-Not being blocked by anyone standing stationary on the MOVING WALKWAYS @ the airport....for once.

Wicked Awesome.

Phil, Roxeanne, Stephen, Steph and I jumped at the chance to see the L.A. Musical performance of "Wicked" last night, and BOY was it worth it! I thought I was the only one in Southern California that hasn't seen this show, until Eric Lapointe informed me that title belonged to him.

Eric...Go see it!

I love live theater. Case in point, a rare occurance during last night's performance- the actress playing Elphaba (the Green Witch) broke character during a humorous dialogue and struggled to contain her giggles! Like a SNL sketch interrupted by laughter, the moment was a crowd-pleaser! The pipes on these people are RIDICULOUS. They are worth every penny they are paid to do this! And, thanks to Phil and Roxeanne, I get to enjoy their songs by way of the soundtrack! : )


If you haven't been to the theater lately (especially if you live in the Metropolis of Los Angeles...talent capitol of the world...) do yourself a favor and make a night of it. It'll give you that goosebumpy, happy feeling- and everyone needs that once in a while.

This is Sure to Make Your Christmas Merry.

Make sure your volume is up.
You're welcome. : )

O Christmas Tree

What up, my festive friends!
I bring you tidings of comfort and joy. It's hard to believe Christmas is already TWO WEEKS away! You should, by now, have a Christmas Tree gracing your living space by this time. I, however, am living the adventurous life of a nomad and, therefore, have no tree to speak of. My gracious hosts last week (Phil and Roxeanne) bought a small tree with bright lights to meet their space challenges. My hosts this week (The Huttons) have a real tree with STARBUCKS ornamentation. My tree will have to wait until next year to be decorated. Boo. Tired of the traditional tree? Looking to get "out of the box"? I offer these creative solutions:

For those of you who REALLY have no room...the bookshelf tree!

Don't know what to do with those empty beer bottles? Here ya go!

Or how about the Australian Christmas tree?


What have you done with YOUR tree??
Extra brownie points for creativity...

Whatever Happened to Conviction?

We all need a little more "umph" behind what we believe.
If you don't have an opinion, get one.

Have You Heard??

Exciting things are going down at Revolution Downey!

How 'bout it?

Why I Won't Be Wearing Flip-Flops Any Time Soon...

This is the nasty outcome of dropping a large curio mirror on your foot.

I can assure you, that was one HECK of a silent scream.
Yowsa.

Only a Phone Call Away

Since I heard about this yesterday, I've been waiting for it to show up on YouTube.
It's nice to know that a dad is a dad...President or not.


Kudos, W.

I Don't Like Vegetables. Musically Speaking, That Is.

If my friends suggested that we do THIS on the weekend...
I would get new friends.

When _____ Gives You Lemons, You Make _________.

When DADDY gives you lemons...


...you make FUNNY FACES.


I kinda feel guilty for laughing.

My Wish List (according to the stars....)

Apparently, you can choose accurate Christmas gifts that your friends will enjoy based on their zodiac sign. I was curious to see if they pegged me correctly (though I think horoscopes are bologna). Here's MY wish list, so the stars say:

Astrological Sign: Gemini (May 21 - June 21)
Present Personality: Geminis love quantity AND quality, so prolong the presents as long as possible with an interesting magazine subscription or a unique program like the Schmerty's Month Featured Cookie Club, which is available in three to 12 month packages. Also, people born under the Gemini sign are very communicative, so this Cordless Skype Dual Phone has the potential to save the recipient a lot of money on phone bills. Another trait of Geminis is that they are extremely inquisitive and love to learn. The Sudoku Wipe Off Game might be a good idea, especially since Geminis also love to be the life of the party, and this will give them yet another reason to be.

For the record, I do not want any of these things.
I'm proven right, again.

Here's what I WOULD like this Christmas:
COATS
BOOTS
SCARVES
CAPS
GLOVES
SOCKS
SWEATERS

...are you getting the idea?

The Best of California Tour Continues...

Hi all!
If it seems like I've been a slacker this week, it's not without good reason. I'm MOVING. Well...I MOV-ED, and I'll blog about that saga later (I'm still too steamed to construct cohesive thought on that one). In the meantime, I've been reading about everyone's lovely holiday weekend, and realized I haven't yet put up picture of my own!

The weekend kicked off with Revolution's annual Thanksgiving Eve worship service. Elijah, Keith and I led the music portion of the evening, and as a congregation we were able to draw attention to the marvelous ways God has been moving among us this year. He is faithful to satisfy every need :)

Thanksgiving day was a slight fiasco...no different from most of Chris' flights (he doesn't have the best of luck with the airlines). A mechanical issue grounded his plane in Duluth, causing him to miss his Minneapolis connection to Sacramento (where we were scheduled to arrive at the same time). After being re-routed to SAC through LAX, we finally connected (though Chris was still missing his luggage) and headed to Turlock for Thanksgiving festivities (a mere six hours late). Sadly, we missed Grandma's thanksgiving feast, but she had saved us a plate. The Pickle family was kind enough to wait for us so they could meet Chris (thanks, Brad!)...and Mallory had drawn us a beautiful picture for the celebration. Sweetness.


Friday we spent some time in Yosemite and were thankful for the BEAUTY of God's creation. The waterfalls were less than stunning due to the water shortage, but the rocks didn't disappoint! We got some great views of Half Dome and El Capitan.




After our drive-through tour of the Yosemite, we stopped in Fresno to enjoy the long-haired splendor of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and the melt-your-face-off-AMAZING pyrotechnic production.


Saturday it was back to wedding planning as I searched for a dress (and FOUND ONE!) while Chris played golf with the boys. Don't expect any spoilers on here...you will be disappointed! My girls (Kim, Christa and Karen) were a big help in the process.

In the evening, we were off to our Reception site (courtesy of our friends' backyard) to look around and do some visual planning. Here's a sneak peak...



As for Chris, this was his last trip to California for quite some time. I hope he was able to soak up enough sunshine to last him through the cold, cold winter in Duluth! Meanwhile, I'm grateful for the time I have left here in this beautiful state. Next adventure....coming soon!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Our engagement announcement hit the Stockton area newspaper on Sunday afternoon...check it out! (In the actual printing of the announcement, Chris' name was mistakenly printed as "Chis". Thankfully, it appears correctly on the website!)

Petersen/Stavenger Engagement

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's a day early, but the season is here...so I wish you the very happiest of Thanksgivings. Enjoy your family. Eat good food. Remember God's provision. Be thankful.

"Let your lives OVERFLOW with THANKSGIVING for all HE has done." Colossians 2:7

I'm thankful for you.

"I Don't Know How To Put This, but I'm Kind Of A Big Deal."

That's not MY ego speaking, but that of Ron Burgundy of the Channel 4 News Team. You "Anchorman" fans can giggle along with me. Tonight, it's ALL ABOUT ANCHORMAN with my friends Stephen and Stephanie, who have not yet enjoyed this cinematic masterpiece. Phil and Roxeanne are going to join in the fun as well- they can attest to it's comic genius, also. I'm looking forward to watching it with Steph...who laughs at everything...

Having mentioned Phil, I should use this opportunity to let you know that his weekly podcasts (which took a small hiatis to regain inspiration) are back up on his blog! I like to let his podcast run in the background as I work...always an interesting music selection.

Yep. That's my Tuesday. I'm so thankful for friends.

"It's My BIRTHDAY!!"

No, not mine.
This was Kaelyn's mantra on Saturday as she arrived at Kidnastics for her 4th Birthday party. It's no wonder this girl was asleep as soon as she settled in her carseat...it was wild times at this hoopla!

The (Wonderful?) World of Politics

My blogging was admittedly a bit sparce last week due to all of my energy being invested in coordinating the 4th annual Emerging Leader's Institute for Biola. Last Thursday, all my planning paid off...it was a well-executed day, with several surprises on the itinerary, including a visit to Arnold Schwarzenegger's inner office! Not many people can say they have SEEN his "Conan" sword, proudly on display amongst pictures of Maria and an extensive cigar collection.

I won't bore you with the details, but it was an intriguing day of conversation with some of California's key players in educational policy making, including Governor Schwarzenegger's special assistant for Education, the Undersecretary of Education for the Governor, and the assistant Superintendent of the CA State Dept of Education.

Of course, I had to snap some photos of the fall colors to remind myself that it IS indeed autumn...sometimes I forget that down here, as I tromp around in my flip flops...



(I hope you notice that I'm trying to be a little more "artsy" with my picture taking...for your enjoyment, of course!)

COUNTDOWN

160 days until....our wedding!
44 days until....I'm blogging from Duluth, Minnesota.
38 days until....CHRISTMAS (time to get shopping!)
19 days until....my dentist appointment. Blech.
12 days until....I have to be out of my apartment.
7 days until....I'll be shopping for a wedding dress.
6 days until....the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert AND our trip to Yosemite.
5 days until....I get to see CHRIS! And eat lots of Turkey.
1 day until....the Hillsong United concert!

What are YOU counting down towards?