August in France. Or, Why my brain is not yet back from holiday.

august in france is weird. the government must have socialized vacation as well as health care, because it seems like it's interdit to work during the month of august in france. the inhabitants of aix have fled the city and been replaced by hoards of tourists. i can't walk down the cours mirabeau without dodging a pack of japanese tourists trailing behind a woman holding an umbrella high in the air. so even though aix is crowded with people, the city has gone on vacation mode, so it feels like a ghost town. one of those ghost towns where tourists flock to take pictures of old buildings and imagine what the town was like in the days of yore, and vendors sell overpriced souvenirs and bottles of water marked up 300%.

i had a wonderful summer. it was exciting and action-packed, relaxing and refreshing, encouraging and inspiring. after two incredible weeks of camp, an iccp staff retreat to the alps, staff conference in hungary, and a vacation with friends in madrid, summer is winding down, and i'm ready. i'm ready to start planning and dreaming for the upcoming year. i'm ready for people to be around and things to be going on. i'm ready to embrace my new roles and job responsibilities. i'm ready to connect with people and be a part of their lives. i'm ready to grow and be stretched. i'm ready to see God work in big ways this year.

the only problem is that france is not ready. france will not be ready until september 1, the official date of "la rentrée" when everyone will return to work and school and normal life. and my brain, it seems, is so culturally adapted that it will not return to work mode until august is over. i'm ready to reengage, but my brain is still on vacation. so i'm not sure what to do: somehow trick my brain into thinking it's september and time to get movin', or just give in and let my brain have it's way with lazy mornings and afternoon naps?

Blast from the past. Or, I guess we've got a little Turtle Power here in our apartment.

Do you guys remember Pogs? They were a favorite of mine, and I think of every kid growing up in the late 80s/early 90s. Everyone would bring their Pog collection to school and every recess was spent playing and trading Pogs. Well, my cat just walked into the kitchen carrying a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pog in his mouth. Where on EARTH did that come from?!?!

A picture is worth a thousand words. Or, 2008: A Photo Essay.

i've finally uploaded a bunch of new pictures to my picasa album. you can now go see for yourself all the things i've been up to. photos include (but are not limited to) my band weatherbeat's concerts, the wedding of my teammate dominic and my former roommate hilary, easter festivities, and 2 weeks in the netherlands for training. click here to check it out!

tonight

Learning to put down roots. Or, Happy Anniversary apartment!

it's been exactly 1 year since i moved into my fantastic apartment on rue de l'opera. i realized that this is the longest i've lived in any one home since i moved out of my parents' house at 17. yes, the last 8 years have been divided between aix en provence, santa barbara, and thousand oaks, but i've been moving around within or between the three the entire time. i hadn't realized that my life was so transient.

it feels good to think that i'm finally starting to put down roots and settle down somewhere. but where i'm really settling down isn't necessarily aix en provence. i'm learning to settle down into God's will, learning to move with Him and plant my roots deeper into Him. it's a good place to be. it means that one year from now, i could be celebrating anniversary #2 in this apartment, or i could be anywhere else in the world. sure, i have plans and dreams about what i'll do, and where and when. but i love knowing that ultimately, my only plan is to serve my Lord, and i'll let Him determine exactly what that looks like. i'm part of a story that is so much bigger than myself. right now, at least, that means that the near and distant futures are more or less unknown, and i could end up, well, anywhere. right now, i really like it that way.

oh lovely day. or, teambuilding + rock and roll = best tuesday ever.

yesterday was one of those fabulous, near-perfect days. one of those days where the glow stays with you for the remainder of the week.

my team spent the day getting out of town and our busy routines to have a team building day. it was so wonderful to be together with no agenda but building our relationships with each other. i adore my teammates! we spent the day at la fontaine de vaucluse, which is incredibly beautiful. pictures coming soon.

last night i got to be a rockstar, and it might have been the best night i've had in france. my band, weatherbeat, played a show at ipn, a club here in aix, and it was amazing! we rocked so hard and we packed the place out. i've still got the after-concert glow. check back on the blog very soon for lots of pictures, stories, and video clips from the show. for now, i'll leave you with our band photo (which was plastered on posters all over town for a week). i'm a proud mama, and this band is my baby.



i'm blogging right now from the balcony of my hotel room, overlooking the rooftops of aix and the rotonde fountain. no, i don't usually stay in hotels in my hometown just for the fun of it. but this weekend is my flatmate hilary's wedding, and the caterer (a friend from amsterdam) is staying in our apartment all week so she can do all the food prep. which means andrea and i get a little vacation in our hometown. we're enjoying it so much! and yes, getting ready for my big concert in the hotel last night made me feel even more like a rockstar :)

Back from the Netherlands. Or, Home is where my guitar is.

my two week sejour in the netherlands is over and i am safely home in aix en provence. it was truly a wonderful time. hopefully i'll post some pictures soon. or even a photo essay, perchance?

the best part of the field orientation, hands down, was the daily "soul care" sessions with hud. (even better than sprinkles for breakfast, you ask? yes, i reply, even better! wisdom from hud is like heavenly sprinkles for the soul). hud is the psychologist/pastor on staff with christian associates, and each morning at fo he led us in thinking through what it means to truly develop in a relationship with Christ, peeling back all the layers of the soul and going deep, that we may be transformed. i think i get so much from hud because he is all about bringing together psychology and spirituality (my two favorite things!) in order that a person may find wholeness and experience the freedom that Christ as for each of us. hud shared a lot of really fascinating and important things with us, and i'd really like to post some of it here eventually, along with some things i've been processing.

fo1 and fo2 were both really wonderful experiences. i am so thankful that my organization values the spiritual health and personal development of it's staff above all else. even though there was a large amount of (great) input and it was emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually intense, fo was such a peaceful and refreshing time spent with my church planting brothers and sisters.

i returned to france (complete with suitcase, this time) late friday night, and proceeded to jump right back into life here. one day later i threw a bridal shower for my darling flatmate hilary, who will wed my wonderful teammate dominic in less than 2 weeks! the shower kicked off the whole two weeks of wedding festivities. i also have a couple things coming up soon that i'm over-the-top excited about (i'll just leave you in suspense for now...) so i'll be pretty busy for the next couple weeks. but it's the very best kind of busy.