amber luhmann?

I probably should get my name changed. I've spent so much time with the Luhmann's today, I may as well be one of them! :) Linda even yells at me like my mom does when I try to do something stupid (like insist on skateboarding home in the dark). Yes, Mom. What a wonderful day to share with friends and with the church community.

6 hours with Steve Cockram FLEW by. We got to see a huddle being modeled, and our huddle ROCKED as a result. The young adults around here rock, and I'm so blessed to get support, ideas, and energy from each of them. Five fold and Myers-Briggs are lifelong tools, and I feel so fortunate that I got to learn all about them from such an expert, in person, rather than reading it out of a book.

At 3, I took some cute pictures of the Luhmann ladies together, and got to take a few fun ones with them as well, then we headed down to West High School to get a Christmas tree. It's quite the production around here. Not only do you go to the lot to get the tree, but you bring your tree bag and tree stand with you. They do it all right there at no extra charge. Of course, if they put the base on crooked, then you're out of luck, but they drill a hole in the base of the stump, and then put your tree on there. It's pretty neat. I contemplated buying a miniature, but remembered I have NO room for it, and don't have $35 for a tree, so I resisted.

Well, I did it. I rode my skateboard all the way to Kelly and Amy's house today. It's only about 4 blocks. But two of them are downhill. I had to abandon ship a few times, because I started wobbling out of control. When my board goes sideways, I can't always steer it back onto the sidewalk, so I usually hit the grass and flail wildly. No spills yet. And, get this: I did it with my camera backpack on! WHOA BABY! It was getting dark, so I figured it was a safe time to give Torrance Boulevard a shot. I'm going to get the hang of this yet! At 25, what better time to pick up a hobby like this?

Supper at Chili's with who? You guessed it: THE LUHMANN'S! (I like them if you can't tell!) If the evening couldn't get any better, it did. We went to Hermosa Beach to a church there to see a live city rendition of Bethlehem. Complete with guards, live camels, horses, and sheep, a love baby Jesus, an angel appearing in the sky--everything! It was awesome. All the live farm animals made me think of MN. Ok, not the camels, but the rest for sure. We were given shekels when we entered the city. Had to pay a tax, of course, but got to spend the rest of our shekels on beads, leather, flowers, food. We made bracelets with our purchases. Amy and I got to dance with the street dancers---gearing up for another "drance" this next Sunday. The volunteers walked around in character, talking, telling their story as if they were really there. Mary and Joseph processed through on a donkey. We watched them beg the inkeeper for a place to stay. Mary was played by a young (not pregnant) girl, but she looked like she was in pain. Riding on a stinkin' donkey while prego? No thank you. The most moving moment of the night was when we were in to see the baby Jesus. One of the characters went in to see the baby Jesus too, and was tearful as he expressed the JOY he felt that finally the Messiah had come after many years of waiting. I was morphed from 2008 all the way back and got tearful as I listened to him gleam with excitement. Such a cool event. There was a line a block long to get into it, and the whole thing was FREE! Talk about major outreach. I had to come home now to prepare for the parable Bible study I'm leading tomorrow. But first, had to put on a headlamp and help Bill with some Christmas lights on the roof. We've got more work to do, but it's coming along! It's been a full (but good) day! Thanks to my Torrance family for all they've done to make me feel at home this Christmas season!