a night to remember

It just wouldn’t seem right to sleep in on a day off. Nope. Especially when the Amber sized waves were rolling in at El Porto. Greg Barker picked Bob, Kevin, and I up at quarter to seven for my final surfing excursion. The water was glassy, warm, and full of dolphins who came out to bid their farewell. They were swimming along in the waves, in large numbers. A few even jumped completely out of the water to show off their moves. At this stage in the game, the jumping dolphins still really impress me, so I tend to shriek with excitement. The other surfers get a good laugh out of my loud freak out sessions! The waves were crashing so lightly that I paddled hard even when I knew I was too far inside the break. I could still get the speed I’d need to launch into the wave and stand up. And I did. 4 times! Of course, I wiped out about ten times, but the rides on my feet were awesome. Kevin even suited up and grabbed a boogie board so he could splash around in the water. It was fun watching him splash around and enjoy himself in the water. Though he lost come major cool points when he walked out to the shoreline with his wetsuit top on inside out and backwards. He was wearing "Men's M" brand! Too funny! I’m glad to end my surfing career on a good note. It was a great day at the beach!

After that, we hit up Uncle Bill’s Pancake Restaurant for chocolate chip pancakes and other goodies. We surfed for over two hours, so the food was much needed! Kevin enjoyed the macadamia nut cakes. I swear he intentionally gets gross food so I won't want to steal a bite. :) What a kid!

My sermon still wasn’t done this afternoon, so we stayed home so I could work on it. When I picked up Kevin from the airport last night, he asked if we could swing by a Macy’s because he wanted to pick up an anniversary gift for me. Well, he already had flowers delivered last week for the actual day, so I had no idea what he had up his sleeve. He ran to the back of the store while I stayed up front drooling over the Coach bags. When he came back he said, “I know this is a busy weekend, but I thought you might like the option to go to the Hollywood Bowl to hear Josh Groban play!” I have to admit, my first reaction was not excitement. All I could think about what the tons and tons of stuff I needed to get done before Sunday and really didn’t have an evening to waste up in Hollywood. We tried giving the tickets to a number of people, but nobody took them. So after Rascals with the Luhmann’s tonight, we hopped on a bus and rode up to Hollywood for the concert. I tell you what, the bus is the way to go. You don't have to pay for parking and you get delivered right up to the door. I’m sure glad no one took the tickets. What a show! Trisha Yearwood, Garth Brooks, Roger Daltrey, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, and of course, Josh Groban were all present and performed. The Bowl seats 17,000 people and it was a sold out show. Their website said no cameras allowed, so I left mine at home and we brought Kevin’s little camera and took what shots we could only after seeing hundreds of camera flashes going off there. On the ride home, I was falling asleep on the bus…I’ll save the rest of the story for the next post…

love arrival

Surf’s up! Ok, not really. After 10 months, I suck at surfing. Today was cool because we went to surf at the place where I first surfed, but I never really rode a wave. It’s true, surfing is the hardest sport ever! Salt water is not made to be swallowed, and I figured that out fast when I would up throwing up in the water. Grr!

I just can’t get this sermon done. I’ve been trying to find time all week to just crank it out, but no such luck. I sit down, and manage to find other things that seem more important to do. My perfectionism issues have definitely decreased and there’s evidence this week as I’ve managed to procrastinate on all the final stuff.

I went to church still wet from surfing to do a few odd things. Camille stopped by the office while I was there and delivered a hand made gift. She made me my first stole! It’s awesome in every way. Quilted to perfection. She even included a little tag on the back that proves it was hand made by her. Too bad I can’t really wear it yet. I’ll admire her fine work until the day I can officially put it on! Thanks Camille!

Kelly and Amy checked with me to see if I’d make time for a manicure and pedicure. Of course! Vera is still getting fixed (we’re up to $550 more at this point) so Kelly and Amy picked me and my four boxes up, took them to the post office for mailing, and headed over to Unique Nails for some pampering. It’s been a long time since I got a mani/pedi. My extroverted nature got shut down as I had my hands and feet done. The artist doing it didn’t speak any English. She would ask the lady next to her to translate everything, and was more curious about the huge bandage on my leg than talking to me. Sad. I don’t feel comfortable hearing someone speak Japanese when they’re working on my feet. Who knows what she was saying! Regardless, she did a fantastic job! The Luhmann’s treated me to a French tip set on both fingers and toes. They looked so pretty when we left.

Finally, at 7:30 Kevin’s plane arrived early, and I picked him up from the airport. We shared Chipotle supper together, and just about forgot to go to run through to practice my song for Sunday. Oops. Time to keep working on this sermon. I’d much rather get some packing done, but I can’t really put it off any longer.

end, last, final

Finals week. I weighed in this morning. Ellen & Lisa Such brought me a certificate, balloons, and poppers to celebrate my weight loss. About 15 pounds! I'm happy with that! Then I got to meet with Bob this morning for our final supervisory meeting. I found a cool shirt online to get him as a gift. It said, “Jesus loves me, and my tattoos!” I saw a guy wearing it at the synod assembly, and knew I needed to get it for Bob. Turns out, he saw the shirt there too and wanted to find it himself! YES! I also saw the published version of my first and last newsletter article at Good Shepherd. Here’s what it said:

As I rounded the corner on my jog this morning I caught a huge whiff of a jasmine and was reminded of just how good God is, and how much I’m going to miss it here. I don’t think we have jasmine in Minnesota. There are a lot of things I wish I could take with me back home. A fist full of jasmine, and all of you! For ten months, I’ve been stretched, blessed, and felt incredible love from the Good Shepherd community, and I wanted my first and final newsletter article to be an overdose of thanks!

-A double-overhead thank you goes to Pastor Bob for his supervision, surfing, support, prayers of encouragement, and belief in me during those times when I wondered what the heck God had in mind for me. We met weekly for the last ten months, and I was blessed to learn from someone I truly admire. My first real mentor!

-My “CA Parents,” Bill and Jane Long graciously welcomed me into their home during my visit. They prepared a beautiful room, tortured me with their cat J, gave me kitchen privileges with no restrictions (I owe them lots of ice cream and milk), and treated me like family.

-The Intern Task Force (Mark, Camille, Greg, Sue, Kristin, Peter, & Michael) were forced to sit through every sermon this year. Wow, what dedication! Thanks for your fair evaluations and for giving me an outlet to work through the trials and triumphs of ministry.

-Who wants to go home and eat alone? Not I! Thanks to all who welcomed me into their homes, or took me to their favorite hangout/restaurant. My favorite evenings in Torrance were spent getting to know the people of GS on a more personal level. If you know that I like ice in my milk, you know this thank you is especially for you!

-Working in a church would be lame if not for an awesome staff! If I ever needed help, had a question, or ran out of steam, the gifted GS staff jumped in and helped! Not to mention all the incredible young adults who really stepped out in faith with me as their new leader and became my closest friends.

-I have to be sure to thank anyone who ever gave me a hug, offered a word of encouragement, laughed at my random mannerisms, sent me a card, or called to check in. These little gestures kept my love thank full. Thank you!

-To the anonymous donor who paid to have my car fixed before I leave for Minnesota—who are you? J At this time in my life, with many things to pay for, what a huge blessing to not get set back financially by a few repairs. From VW and me, thank you so very much!!

Well, I have had a lump in my throat for the last 2 weeks straight, and my eyes are welling even as I write this. So many people to thank, and one intern who has been touched forever. My intern friends are scattered all over the country doing ministry in all sorts of contexts, and they’re all in agreement: my internship has been the best site. Ever! I would agree with them. God has been so good to me this year, and I pray God’s rich blessing for all of you in the days ahead.

My office is finally getting a little packed up. I managed to accumulate two boxes of books while I was here. After packing up a few boxes at home as well, I headed over to the Rognlien’s house for our staff farewell party. Everyone came out for a great night of slacklining, food, burned steaks, and Amber time! Lisa Such brought adorable cupcakes, and Lisa Strom brought longboard chips from Trader Joe's. All the staff kids joined in on the fun and brought a lot of energy to the night. As a going away present, the staff presented me with my very own 6 foot surfboard that they signed. They also got me a Becker Surfboard t-shirt, surf wax, stickers, a beach bag, and a sun hat! I’m going to look so out of context when I go back to Lake Okabena with all this stuff on. Toward the end of the night, everyone gathered around and shared some of their favorite Amber memories. I was hoping they’d forget the really embarrassing stuff, but no such luck. More prayers from everyone, more tears, and back home I went. I hope it gets easier once Kevin gets here. All these goodbyes and prayer times are getting harder and harder.

RodeOH baby!

Well, my car has been transferred in to the hands of a new mechanic. The Arco guy sent me off telling me the problem with my car was a wiring issue and that it had a recall. I was delighted to hear that a VW dealership should replace the problem for me for free. When I called Pacific VW, the guy informed me there was no recall on my car. LIARS! So...I decided to take my car elsewhere, because the Arco men are not trustworthy. We'll see what happens.

Amy and I took a trip up to Rodeo Drive today. It was her first time! FIRST! My fourth! She has lived here her whole life and had never been to Beverly Hills. That's just sick if you ask me. So, we went to Tiffany to exchange our necklaces because mine was defective, and Amy wanted a different one. Then we went to the Coach store where we found a Coach surfboard in the window, and $40 colorful Coach shoes on sale. I bought two different pairs. They were too cute and cheap to pass up, and from Rodeo Drive! Of course, I had to call Holly and my mom right away to tell them the exciting news! We ran to another mall to pick up the other pair of shoes, and because we were in a hurry, we parked in the 'expectant mother' space near the elevator. I stuck out my tummy and started talking about my cankles, and nobody suspected a thing! Just for the record: I am not with child.

We drove back down the 405 to pick up Kelly, and then got back on it for our trip to the Del Mar Fair in San Diego. We have had Phil Vassar tickets for months, and finally we got to go to the concert. Amy bought 4 tickets, and at the last minute, one was unspoken for, so I invited a friend of mine from high school to come with us. Shelby and her husband Jake just moved to San Diego 3 weeks ago, so it was a perfect chance to see her before I left. We had a few hours to walk around the fair and enjoy corn dogs, carmel apple sundaes, and cinnamon rolls. Jason, Holly, and I have this running joke about spas at the fair thanks to our favorite comedian Bill Engval. So, the spa man was kind enough to let me hop in one. All the junk you can buy at the fair. It's hard not to laugh at some of the stuff they sell. We got to walk through the photography exhibit. Wow. I thought the Focus Finders were good: this was incredible! Hundreds of photos in every category under the sun! We got table seats at the concert so had a great view. Phil was pretty good. He sang all the classics, but he had one small problem. Well, it wasn't small, it was massive. He pointed a lot! He'd hold the mic with one hand and point toward the crowd with the other. It got so out of hand we decided to keep a tally: 163 times. Someone needs to let him know about that. By the time the show was over, it took us 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot, and 2 hours to get home. Despite the drive time, it was a great way to spend the day!

cool whip butt

The title of this blog is in honor of Presley, who, for whatever reason will from time to time call me a cool whip butt. It's fitting for today! Bad news or good news first? Always better to end on a good note.

Bad. The people working on my car are being really rude, and talking to me like I don't know squat about anything. It's still not working. Not sure I can drive all the way to MN without a speedometer. C'mon people! Please pray for Vera. She needs a lot of work from the sounds of it.

Good. The prayer ministry team asked me to come in early this morning so they could pray for me. I wound up bawling my eyes out again as they continued to ask the Spirit to move mightily through me. Also, my final meeting with the young adult life group tonight was a wonderful evening to celebrate God's goodness to all of us. I have great confidence that this group will go on to do amazing things in the future, and that God is going to bless them with much fruit! We celebrated with prayer (more bawling for me), some hammer dulcimer playing, and brownie sundaes. Kelly wanted to take a picture of me with my sundae, so I invited Robin into the picture with me. My plan was to get a little whipped cream on her nose. As you can see, the plan went south quickly when the whole tower tipped over onto her shirt. Her expression is priceless. Thank goodness she wasn't mad at me. We laughed for a long while after when we saw her expression on the camera.

Tiffany & Co.

Well, my period of denial has officially ended. I've lost it more times today than I care to count. My heart is heavy and hurting, and the last thing I want to do it start packing up, but it's time. The "lasts" start tonight. All week long. It doesn't help that everyone around me keeps reminding me and asking when I am leaving. Let's go back to denial.

Church this morning was wonderful. So many warm hugs, kind gifts (a mickey scarf from the Spilde's, a key finder from the Mayfield's), and over 100 prints sold for the Uganda mission. Pretty close to $2,000 has been raised for the water tower. That's 1/5 of the cost. Way to go Focus Finders! All nine of my prints sold. Jane bought "Darn Duck" today and left me with no photos to take home. Darn. I was hoping for at least one left over to keep. The quilters from church also had their boutique today. I bought an adorable apron, and was given a few pot holders as a gift. Now, I just need a real house to do some baking in. All these wonderful gifts: my love tank is overflowing! I'm so glad to have little things to remember my GS family by.

After the congregational forum, I drove up to Chet & Theresa's house to help celebrate Chet's 62nd birthday. We spent the afternoon swimming, munching on yummy food, and hitting Bobby in the face with water logged footballs. JOY! Theresa even helped me find this sweet second skin stuff to help heal up my sand rash. She's the coolest nurse ever. Little did I know the whole family was planning to celebrate more than Chet's birthday. Toward the end of the afternoon, Theresa sat out a chair and said, "Ok, here's the hot seat. Amber, you get to go first." I wasn't exactly sure what the hot seat meant, but with this crew, I was sure it was some kind of prank, so I sat in the chair, held on tight for fear that they'd try to throw me in the pool, and watched them all gather around me. Linda started sharing some kind words about my time here. I was so choked up, I don't really remember what she said. Theresa chimed in as well with her loving sentiments and got the whole family singing, "I've got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart" in honor of me. I must bring them joy or something. :) Following all the words, tears, and song, Linda announced that they had gotten me a little token of their appreciation. I didn't notice Amy had her hand behind her back the whole time, and suddenly she brought her hand to the front to reveal a little blue bag with "Tiffany & Co." written on the side. (Let me bring you up to speed on the significance: Amy got a similar bag at her graduation party, and tortured me by not opening it until last of all her presents. I had never even seen a Tiffany bag before, so when I saw hers, I was obviously excited. Ok, you're back up to speed). So, Amy handed me the bag, I read through the card, and got to reach in the bag and pull out my very first little blue box with a white ribbon. Inside was a blue pouch and a beautiful double heart Tiffany necklace! WOW! I was a little excited! Gotta give it up: that was the coolest present of the day! Of course the bag full of krispie treats is a close second. These two families have welcomed me to nearly every major holiday and family function this year. They really are my family away from home. God blessed me with the friendships they have given me this year, and I cannot wait to see how God continues to keep us close in the future. I love you guys!

w-w-w-wipeout!

Oh dear, just pull the plug. What a day! What a day! I had to get up early this morning for my first long run. 7 miles. I mapped my course on mapmyrun.com to find a route that would get me the mileage. Unfortunately, the website doesn't show you where the hills are. 4 miles into it, a ginormous hill. Dang. A little light drizzle helped to distract me from the fact that I was absolutely out of my mind. I did it though in a little over an hour, so I felt good about that. As if that wasn't enough exercise for the day, my final event at Good Shepherd brought even more action.

A beach party at the Manhattan Pier with slack lining, volleyball, friends, skim boarding, and lots of sunshine was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. Lots of old friends, and a few new ones showed up to enjoy the festivities. Of course, we were worried the life guards were going to come and yell at us for tying the slack line up to the pier, but we weren't bothered. In fact, at least 5 strangers came up and tried it while we were there. We had fun tackling each other in the sand, taking pictures under the pier, and watching surfers paddle out between the pier pillars. Yikes! Bobby brought his skim board again and I got a second chance to try it. I wish I could say it went well. On probably my tenth attempt, I didn't time the board correctly and had a major wipe out. Sand burn. It hurt like crazy. Only about 20 friends saw the whole thing, so I tried getting up without making too big a deal of it. Within minutes, it started swelling up, bleeding, and got really really red. Thank goodness. Now I could go ahead and say how much it hurt and they wouldn't think I was a wimp about it. Lesson of the day: quit while you're ahead. Oh wait, no, a more important lesson is this: never put your lips too close to a woman who likes to kiss on the lips. Linda is a lip kisser kinda gal. I jokingly (you hear that--JOKINGLY!) puckered my lips for a funny photo and she pulled an Albert Brenneman and came the full 100%! Overeager!

We spent over 4 hours at the pier. It seemed as though everyone had a great time! By 6:00 I was ready for bed, but the day wasn't over yet. Another photo shoot. Everyone is cramming them in this last week. I think the one tonight was officially my last one. There's just no time to do anymore. I had to turn down one for this week because I knew I had a sermon to write, and not a single free night to be working on it. Fortunately my shoot today was for a family at church who I really love. Two little girls who bring a lot of joy to my Sunday mornings. Anyway, church tomorrow, hopefully more prints will sell at the show, and some friends are getting baptized. Exciting day! Night!

rainbow sprinkles

According to the marathon training program I'm using, Friday is supposed to be a day of rest from physical activity. I suck. 3 hours of surfing this morning is not resting. But it sure is fun! Bob, Greg, and I went down to El Porto and had a great time! I brought my camera so I could get some cool shots of them "getting tubed" (in the words of Bob). We saw a whole pack of dolphins, and then one who got pretty close to me. Those little boogers sneak up on you. I've vowed to not go in a glass bottom boat while I'm here, because I know as soon as I can see what's below the surface of the water, I'm not going to want to surf again. Bobby came down later and I got to try skim boarding. It's where you stand on the sand with your board, as soon as the wave comes in and goes back out, you throw your board out in front of you and jump on it and ride the foam left behind on the sand. Dangerous. Luckily, no injuries to report from that. I made a few more videos while we were out so ya'll can see what fun it is out at Manhattan Beach in the morning!

After all the surfing, Greg and I met Dana at Red Robin for lunch. Teriyaki burger and a peach shake with SPRINKLES! I love rainbow sprinkles. On our ride back to my house, we listened to a Kendall Payne song on repeat. I tend to do that. Play a song over and over until I get sick of it. I was happy to have found another person who does the same. We could've driven around all afternoon memorizing the song and singing along. Greg and I really liked the song. It's called "Roller coaster":

Life gets a little better, stays a little gray

Live it up, live it long as you can always count on

Those unexpected moments when the pleasure just

Sweeps you away

We were made for something better

Something better than this inconsistency

So while you wait to respond to what's really going on
Under shame, under doubt what the whole thing's about

Sing to me

It's like a roller coaster 100 miles fast

Spins you round in circles till you want to collapse

Makes you so excited you can't wait for your second chance.

I definitely feel like I've been on a roller coaster these last few days. With nothing packed, and a whole list of things to get done, it seems as though I'll never make it to the end of the ride. Now that my time is coming to an end, everyone is inviting me over for meals and get togethers. Farzad and Carol Banihashemi invited me over tonight. I was greeted by their beautiful white husky dog. Man, what a cool/smart animal. He did every trick under the sun. Donna joined us for the festivities, and all three of them were busily preparing the feast when I arrived. Farzad is a blender maniac, so right away he was creating all kinds of goodies. They offered so many wonderful appetizers and treats, I was full before supper even began. When Carol asked me earlier in the week if I had anything I didn't like to eat, I was honest with her and listed a few things. She got a kick out of my list and said Kevin certainly has his work cut out for him with me. Really, as long as it has ketchup on it, he knows it's safe. :) The menu tonight was BBQ pork on a rice patty, lima bean rice (not my favorite--see the picture), watermelon juice, corn bread, chocolate cake with a cool powdered frosting stencil (Andrea, I can see you doing something like this), and homemade gelato. Delicious! Farzad is a camera buff like I am, so he brought out all his toys to show me. Wow. Jealousy started kicking in when he brought out his missile lens. If anyone is looking for Christmas gift ideas, there's one for ya! :) Their son, Arman challenged me to some wii games. He whooped my butt. Carol and I battled in boxing and she beat me too. What's my problem? However, when we sat down to battle in a game of checkers, guess who came out on top? MUA! It was such a great night with these people of peace.

i love lilly pads

As my time gets shorter and shorter, my days get fuller and fuller (yeah, those aren't words, but who cares)! The marathon training continues. 3 miles today. I worked all afternoon. We sold a bunch more photos today for the show. Up to 68 prints sold. It's incredible how successful the Focus Finders event has been. I was sitting in the CLC today with the photos and a young woman (my age) stopped in and was looking at them. Immediately, I recognized her as a person of peace. Very kind and engaging. We chatted for a few minutes, and then she offered to pray for me. I wanted to pray for her too, but didn't want her to think I was only doing it because she did it for me, so we went our own ways. She out one door, me kicking myself out the other for not just praying for her. About 10 minutes later, she came into the office to tell me she decided she wanted to buy a print. So, I went back with her, and figure the Holy Spirit was giving me a second chance. So, we prayed again. I don't know why I freak out sometimes when I am given the chance to speak God's love to someone else through prayer. What a wonderful example of those people of peace who enter our lives if only for a few minutes. I'm thankful for her today.

I was asked a few days ago to record a Hawaiian Wedding Song in Hermosa Beach. It's called "Forever." I figured it sounded like fun. I love recording. So, I went, was there for only 30 minutes, sang a few things, and walked out rich! I need to get a few more singing gigs. Now I can go put some new front tires on my car. Dang when the money goes down the drain so quickly!

Another photo shoot tonight at this sweet little Japanese garden in Torrance. I had no idea it was there. Tucked in the middle of a bunch of buildings. We found turtles, fish, and lilly pads! My favorite! After that I had 'the last supper' with the Luhmann's at Rascal's. I don't think I've ever taken a photo of the teriyaki splat, so here's one so I can always remember the best treat ever. I'm going to start counting down the days until I get to come back so I can have Rascal's again! After supper, I went back to church to work a little longer on a few photo orders. Well, that turned out to be not such a good idea when I found myself stuck in my office at 11:30 while strange voices walked around outside the office door. I shut the light off and got down on the floor to see under the door. There was a guy in a red flannel shirt sitting on the steps. Immediately, my heart started racing. I texted Bob, and Pam answered and came to my rescue. She loves that detective kinda stuff, so she raced over and saved me. There just aren't enough hours in the day right now to get things finished. Evaluations due, sermons to write, photo CD's to send out, packing to start--AHH!