It's MOVING TIME!

After more than a year of sadly sitting in storage, my "stuff" is THRILLED to be reuniting with me in Southern California. I'M pretty excited too: excited to be sleeping once again on MY bed, eating off of MY dishes, sitting on MY couches.... hopefully it will contribute to a feeling of "home," finally. I've been diligently recruiting some brute strength of both ends of the moving process (this may be earth-shattering news for those of you who think I am wonder-woman....unfortunately, I cannot lift an aromoire on my own. Yet.) THANK YOU to Richard, Brock, Nick and Chris, who will be helping on the Stockton end, and Matt, Larry, Jeff, Stephen, Jessie, Steph and Cheri who will be helping on the Cypress end. I'm so grateful for good friends!

If you would be willing to help on either end for a little while (Stockton- Friday night, or Cypress- Saturday afternoon), you will receive dinner and lots of thanks from me. : )

And so, the journey continues!
Lots of pictures of the new place to come!

Welcome, Kinley!

Congratulations, Jen and Kyle, on the birth of baby girl #2, Kinley Petrie Park!

Grrrrrrrreat.

Wouldn't you know....on the day that I'm scheduled to fly, a terrorist alert shakes up all air travel. I doubt that Long Beach Airport is a huge terrorist target, but I'm having to make the appropriate changes to my itinerary- no carry on luggage and a three-hour delay in airport security. There goes my evening.

Happy Birthday, Silke!

Okay, a little late on the pictures, but here they are nonetheless. Our celebration for Silke's 26th birthday was nothing short of "Silke Style"...lots of fun into the wee hours of the morning! We started in Seal Beach for appetizers and some Karaoke (during which Matt demonstrated his unusually keen knowledge of Spice Girls songs), then made our way into Long Beach to hit the Gaslamp (Bar and Restaraunt) where 80's cover band "Knight Ryder" was playing a Friday night set. LOTS of dancing, LOTS of laughing, LOTS of pictures! (Stephen took an inclination to my sunglasses a few weeks ago and hasn't taken them off, since...) Carrie, James and Kelly drove down from Hollywood to meet up with us at the Gaslamp, also.

Yesterday, Today and Forever

I attended a worship night/concert with Vicky Beeching in Pasadena this past Sunday. Her music is relatively unknown here (now), but she is a popular worship artist in her home country, England. She was delighted to be in Southern California (not much sunshine in London) and was thrilled about her first Jamba Juice experience earlier that day. In the past, she has recorded under the Vineyard label, and is now branching out as an independent artist. You can hear a couple of her songs, including the title track of her new album "Yesterday, Today and Forever," on Christian radio.

One of her songs in particular, "Captivated," has emerged as a favorite of mine. While in Morocco standing in the shadow of the Grande Mosque, a phrase from this song played over and over in my head...from the Holy Spirit, I'm sure; "No other could ever be as beautiful..."

I had the opportunity to talk with Vicky after the show. It turns out we're somewhat of Kindred Spirits! We both have a love for the Beatles, for Jamba Juice, and for the piano. Plus, we wore matching shirts.

Check out her website at www.vickybeeching.com!

Serve Day 2006

I took a LONG nap after all the festivities from THIS weekend subsided. No sooner am I back on American ground when my calendar fills up completely. One year ago, I participated in Serve Day on my first "official" day as a Southern Californian. This year, I was assisting with worship leading at the rally and serving with good friends from Revolution Church. I've come full circle....it was a moment (sniff).

Our project THIS year was facilitating a carnival for psychiatric patients at the Metropolitan State Hospital. We worked with adolescents and adults who had limited to full grounds access. The possibility of working next year with patients from the penal code section is in the works (patients who are doing time at the hospital for pleading insanity in a criminal case). We sure did have some characters this year...and I'm just talking about the volunteers from Revolution. CRAZY! We provided Karaoke (listened to a lot of "I love Rock and Roll" and "Rapper's Delight"), many carnival games and crafts, and an abundance of prizes. The experience of serving people "just because" is always so rewarding.

Waste Time

I've figured out a new way to maximize my time.

Acronyms

It's Tuesday, and my brain feels like jell-o. I haven't fully assimilated back into normal time, and being back at work has been amusing and frustrating. As you can imagine, my paperwork is piled high from my two-week absence, and I'm not back to my usual semi-apt self quite yet.

I had a couple of advising appointments yesterday and was a mess in both, forgetting easy acronyms like SB2042 and LEDU 301. I live and breathe here by acronyms. If you are interested in a credential, you may be interested in SB2042, RYAN, or AB57. Of course, now, you'll have to obtain AB1059 content during your TPP by taking the CLAD exam, but only after you get CoC authorization. You'll also be required to complete CBEST, CSET and RICA examinations. Once this is complete, and all 4 TPA's have been assessed, I'll issue you a C-19 letter.

That's exactly why I found the following Dilbert comic so amusing...

Things I Did Today

Things I did today (in no particular order):

Brushed my teeth with tap water.
Drank a cold soda with ice.
Slept on a bed that doesn't squeak.
Ate fruit without having to bleach it for an hour first.
Enjoyed an In-N-Out burger.
WORE PANTS.
Blogged from my own computer.
Slept through the night without being awakened by donkeys or loudspeakers. (well...I slept til 3 a.m., still need to adjust to this time zone)
Played my piano and sang....loudly!
Turned on my cell phone.
Prayed in public.
Enjoyed the morning news...IN ENGLISH.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!

New Africa Blog!

Follow along with my journey in North Africa (pending internet access, I hope to blog daily) on my temporary blog, www.africasongs.blogspot.com!

See you there!
Jamie

Here Come the Bachelorettes!

Oh, I know I've dropped the ball on posting- it's been a mad frenzy of travel, and travel preparations! But quickly, here are some pictures from our wicked awesome bachelorette extravaganza. Sarah did a wonderful job of putting this weekend together to celebrate the impending nuptuals of Juliann Helleck and Thaddeus Rask. Seven ladies took on the big city (San Francisco) complete with a 2-hour limosine tour of the city (what happens in the limo STAYS in the limo...) and a night of dinner and dancing. What a treat!

By the way, here's a shout-out to Michelle Berger, a fellow bachelorette who will be a married lady one week from tomorrow! WOO HOO!

Oh Baby!!

Babies, babies, babies! What IS in the water?! Actually, I'm sure water has little to do with it.
Within my circle of friends, there has been a massive influx of pregnancies and births...a little overwhelming as I think about trying to give them all ample attention! And for those kiddos who will grow up far away from me, it makes me sad. Here are all the 2006 babies I am aware of....I'm so excited to watch you grow!

Below, in no apparent order: Megan Burruel, Kristina Metro, (Little Boy) Marchessault (due in 3 months), (Ann-Marie) Baker (due in August), Rylan Park (little sister is due in August), Christian Young (baby #2 due ??), (Zakaraya) Malone (due soon!) and Baby Nelson (seen here in mommy's tummy).






Infinite X's and O's from your Auntie Jamie!!

B Collision

Last Friday, I received a special package on my doorstep...the pre-release for David Crowder's new album, "B Collision," released by SixSteps Records. (I know I recently posted about David Crowder...I'm not obsessed, I promise.) His previous album, "A Collision" was an eclectic mix of alternative rock and, surprisingly, bluegrass music! All songs hinged on the theme of "death"...a lament about life here on earth and a celebration of things to come. The "collision" of this world with the next.

After the release of their last groundbreaking album (who does an entire album about death, anyway?), David writes about a personal experience which made mortality all the more a reality to them. Many of you read about the tragedy involving a pastor who was electricuted while performing a baptism. Kyle was a pastor at David Crowder's church, and a personal friend. He states that this experience made him look back at the first album with new eyes...ones full of tears and pain. Hence, "B Collision" was birthed. It's an acoustic succession of some songs from the first album. It's raw in production and emotion. Some will really connect with it. Some won't, until...

Crowder's new album is released today...you can pick it up at a discounted price, or check it out on itunes.

In celebration of things to come...
Jamie

What I Learned from Japanese Television

I never would have thought I could learn so much from Japanese television! I found myself stumbling upon that station after perusing channels, and saw (in subtitles) something about Muslim faith. As I will be travelling to a muslim country in a couple of weeks, I thought there may be some pertinent information to learn about the culture, so I stopped for a while...well, an hour, actually.

Come to find out, the speaker and host were both Christians. The video cut away often to join this Pastor as he led a group of Japanese Christians on a tour of the temple grounds in Jerusalem. The way he explained things gave me a basic awareness of the Christian/Muslim conflict that I never had before. For example, he discussed the passage in which Abraham lays his son on the altar. The interpretation of this act is the root of dissent between the two spiritual forces. While Jews believe that it was Isaac that Abraham laid on the altar, Muslims believe that it was actually Ishmael. They justify this with the passage in which God commands Abraham to give "his only son." Since Isaac was born 25 years after Ishmael (who was born through the maidservant, Hagar), they believe God's instruction was directed at Ishmael.

So, the crux of the conflict is whether you believe God's prophecy to be fulfilled in the line of Isaac (Abraham--Isaac--David--Jesus) or Ishmael (Abraham--Ishmael--Mohammed).

What an important lesson for us to learn. Had Sarah been patient with God for a son, this feud would not exist. It is imperitive to wait on God's timing.

This pastor also walked his tourists through the spot on the temple grounds where the Holy of Holies was believed to have stood. Wow. Those of you who have had the good fortune of visiting Jerusalem would know that the Mount of Olives (and the temple of Christ's Ascension), the Golden Gate, and the Holy of Holies all fall in line with each other. This pastor asked his tour group to touch the exposed bedrock on this site and thank God for the cross of Jesus. What an experience that must have been.

Have any of you had this experience? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Most Frequently Used Noun...

Some of you know that linguistics is a subject that interests me a great deal. In fact, I've recently had dreams with verbiage that has sparked English discussions with faculty here at Biola. Although I don't consider myself to be a sequipedalian, I DO enjoy learning new vocabulary and looking at patterns in diction and dialect. I love people with accents...I find them fascinating. My friends are often frustrated by my constant correction of their grammar (too bad...they're better for it!) and I am usually very meticulous in my writing (which is why it takes for-e-ver to crank out one of these things). As a second grade teacher, I loved teaching parts of speech and parsing sentences.

Which is why, in my opinion, the following is so riveting! OXFORD UNIVERSITY created a study to find which NOUN is the most frequently used in the English Language, and the result might surprise you! I'll let you look for yourself, but I've included a hint in the picture here. See if you can guess...

The top 25 nouns are as follows:
25. fact
24. problem
23. group
22. number
21. company
20. government
19. point
18. case
17. week
16. work
15. place
14. woman
13. eye
12. child
11. part
10. hand
9. life
8. world
7. man
6. thing
5. day
4. way
3. year
2. person

And the number one MOST USED NOUN:
*check this out for the answer!
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060622064209990003&ncid=NWS00010000000001

(source: AOL news 06/22/06)

Artist of the Month!

Hey friends!

This just came down the pipe from the David Crowder Band...they are eligible to become MSN Music's Artist of the Month for July. David Crowder Band falls under the SixSteps record label that I represent, so to have a great showing of support over the other secular contenders would mean great momentum for the label/artist and, ultimately, the gospel of Jesus! It looks like we have a good chance of winning at this point....now let's OVERWHELM them with DCB votes!

To vote, go to http://music.msn.com/music/artistofthemonth

Rock on,
Jamie

A Frenzy of Frosting

Wow! I saw more cake flying around this weekend than ever before! See what happens when I leave you NorCal folk by yourselves for too long?! First, frosting topped off the nuptials of Cody and Ellen Bray...an act that, I must say, caught me off guard since both (appear to be) so prim and proper. Guess I was wrong! This was followed by a not-so-shocking display of cake vandalism by Jen and Kyle Park at their daughter Rylan's first birthday party. Witnesses will attest to the fact that Kyle clearly started this mayhem. Looks like mommy and daddy had more fun with the cake than Rylan!

There were, in all events, moments of civility that were captured on camera. The following snapshots are from the Bray wedding (don't worry...the beer bottles are closed...), Rylan's birthday, and some friends after church at CrossWalk. Whoosh...there goes another weekend!

Happy Birthday, Barbara Bush Sr.!

....and of course, ME!

Recently, I discovered that other fabulous people share my birthday, including Bobby Marchessault and Becky Perry. Holla, my friends! Other fellow Gemini include Chris Alexander and Jenny Howell (both June 7) and Franse Mathews, Larry Nelson, and Ashley Wilson (all on June 9th). I'm so glad I get to share this season of celebration with you!

So what, you may ask, did I do to celebrate? Thanks to MANY of my friends from Revolution and a few golden friends, I was surrounded by love and laughter. Suzanne, Heidi, Silke, Christi, Jeff, Rachel, Matt, Charlie, Bridget, Steph, Stephen, Kaelin, Christina and Jessie all met me at Outback Steakhouse, where we enjoyed good food, odd tricks by Charlie, and a guest appearance by Captain Jack Sparrow himself! I can't imagine a better group of people with whom I could spend my last night as a 28-year old. Pictures...and there ARE pictures...are soon to come.

Today, the faculty and staff in the Education Department through a Birthday Barbeque in my honor. It was yummy! ALL the faculty and staff ceased working to join me on the patio for this party...I felt very special. I've also been receiving Myspace messages ALL day...it really is a phenomenon! My entire comments list now reflects birthday salutations. For those of you who have survived a "myspace birthday," you know what I am talking about!

Tonight...flying home to Stockton, where I will spend the rest of the weekend at weddings, bridal showers, graduation and birthday parties! Let the celebration commence!

Joy to you on this beautiful day!
Jamie

(Feeling like showing some birthday love? You know where to leave a comment!)

It's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

While I was on my blogging sabbatical this week, I had time to finish "The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers," a memoir of Amy Hollingworth's friendship with Fred Rogers. While the writing was nothing special, I loved absorbing insight into the character of this godly man. Though his quiet and rather slow nature soon became the butt of many jokes, Mister Rogers consistently broadcasted biblical principles on his daily program. The concept of identifying your feelings and controlling them was a thread throughout PBS's longest running program. He sang songs such as "I like to Take My Time," reminding us to think before we act. (Did anyone notice that the traffic light fixture was always blinking yellow.....slow down?) Fred Rogers' advocacy for "quiet time" is a contradiction to most contemporary children's programming, and his passion for spiritually/emotionally healthy children was admirable.

Mister Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister, a detail I didn't realize when I was a young girl watching the program. In retrospect, it makes perfect sense. While he didn't proselytize the gospel verbally on his show, his values were plastered all over the script. Children find esteem in his mantra, "You make each day a special day by just your being you." I remember anticipating time in the "Land of Make Believe" and especially trips to the factory as seen in "Picture Picture." I remember the tinkling soundrack of the piano embroidered throughout the program, and can imagine the smell of the musty closet from which he pulled his trademark cardigans. A proponent of routine, you could always count on the changing of wardrobe, the feeding of the fish, and the greeting of the trolley.

In 1969, a year after his children's program began it's multi-decade run, funding for public television was in jeopardy due to new legislation from President Nixon. A twenty million dollar grant was the cause for his appeal at the United States Senate. I was captivated by the clip below, as I think you will be. Notice that Senator Pastore begins his dialogue with Mister Rogers seemingly abrasive and rude, as he is unfamiliar with this particular children's program. Note the change of attitude that occurs halfway through Fred's heartfelt appeal. You'll also notice that Fred has the same patient, slow nature in the pressure-cooker courtroom environment that he does on his television show, a testimony to his authenticity. This, in part, was what ultimately led to the securing of the government's grant. Take a few minutes and remember the sound and heart of Mister Rogers.

Mr. Rogers vs. The US Senate

Carrie Turner Strikes Back

Hi all!
Carrie Turner once again sang a fantastic set on Friday night...here are some photos of the band (thanks, Selena!)


The Incredible, newly-married, Neeman!


Not feeling so great, but holding it down on keys none the less!


Watching Blake play the drums is worth the price of the ticket!


Selena and Sarah...our number one groupies! : )

Preparing for Africa

Hi friends, welcome back.

Thank you for being patient with me during my week hiatis from blogging!

I attended much-needed fellowship function with my short term missions team this weekend, as all of our meetings thus far have been hinged on training (safety, culture, teamwork, etc.) This was just dinner, and it was a wonderful time of getting to know my team on a more personal level. The demographics of our team have made me, at first, a little apprehensive about making close friends on this trip, but I've really been pleasantly surprised. I can see in my colleagues such nurturing, wise spirits. It will be a refreshing change of community! And I'm opening myself up to learning much from them.

Last night we each shared about our childhoods, and there is quite a variety of experiences represented on our team; from those who raved about their happy home to those who broke down in tears at just the memory. A good reminder that we all bring to the table different views of God and different experiences with others. Last night I prayed especially for an increased sensitivity to the emotional needs of others. It will be imperative on a trip like this.

We also laughed a lot. One of my new favorite people on our team is Eileen. She reminds me so much of my Aunt Carol, quirky and fun-loving, yet so nurturing and full of concern. I told her that in some ways she reminds me of Mister Rogers...I'm not sure she took it as a compliment, but it was certainly intended to be one! I love her soothing spirit and heightened appreciation of the things around her. And Ashley has been a welcomed blessing in my life! She and I are the "young ones" on the team, and I am sure thankful for her company! Plus, she is a resident, like I, of the LBC, so I have a buddy with whom I can commute to meetings!

I'm hoping to soon have a newsletter published with updates and specific prayer requests regarding our trip. If you would like to be a partner in prayer, please let me know! We'll need it!

Blessings on the Journey,
Jamie