Disneyland!

So, Raleigh and I have season passes for Disneyland that we bought in June, and so far have been able to go many times since. But we were most excited about going during Christmas time, because we've never been there during Christmas. We took a short trip yesterday (we were there only about 5 hours compared to when we usually go and stay there for like..12 hours). It was beautiful. They definitely deck it out to the fullest. Kristina met us there, since BIOLA is only a few miles away, and my boss, Jeff, and his family were there too, so we hung out with them. It was fun. We went on a few rides, took some pictures, and the best part was being on Main St. when they made it "snow"! It was beautiful. They dim all the lights, light up the castle (that looks like it has snow all over it). and then they make it "snow" on Main St. I won't give away their secrets, but I can confirm it was not real snow. However, it honestly looked like the real thing if you just looked up. It was a good time, and we are going to go back in December and really enjoy it for longer.

Seattle Conference trip

This is the house where we stayed on the trip. Isn't it gorgeous!!?? Right on the lake.
Fall! :) And I really needed a Fall fix.
The Planning Center crew. Jeff and Jeff (who I work with) are on the left.

Yes, I got to meet Lincoln Brewster! Nice guy. I'm also promoting Planning Center to his church. His band stopped by our booth and said they really want to use it and they're going to try to convince him. :)
Raleigh and me at the first Starbucks!


So the company I work for flew Raleigh and I along with Jeff and Jeff and their spouses up to Seattle, WA for a worship conference. We set up a booth there to promote our product, and got to hang out a lot and have fun!! It was so great. Very refreshing to me to be in the beautiful Northwest for a while. I am so thankful that we got to go. God has blessed us so much through this job I have. We made lots of memories, and got at least a few sign-ups for Planning Center :) .
The trip included staying at a house right on the lake, going to downtown Seattle, getting lost several times, and of course, wouldn't be complete without Raleigh and I coming back with a funny story about how we got locked our of our bedroom in the house and stayed up for over an hour (while most everyone else was in bed) trying to pry open the hinges. Eventually, we just found the key. Haha. The best part about it was that we had just been in the hot tub, and when Raleigh accidentally closed the door, it was because he was on his way to the shower so he had no clothes!! He was trying to break into the outside door with only a towel on. I wish I had a good picture of that, but I think our camera was in the bedroom! :)

Mexico Missions Trip

This is the family that we made the house for!
     The site where we built the house.
    Beautiful Morning!!


So, we just got back from our Mexico trip today! Thank goodness we made it over the border alright. And, even though we accidentally went through the wrong lane and only ended up waiting about 4 minutes then getting an official warning, we still made it! Our trip went really well. We went down with about 8 other people from the college group and then a lot of families and adults. It's not your typical missions trip because we get to sleep in a hotel and eat at the restaurant. So, it's pretty nice, really!!

 We went down Friday afternoon and got to relax that evening and hang out. Then woke up REALLY early Saturday to build the house. Funny story actually, because we called for a wake up call for 6am but they called at 5am. But, because our hotel clock was an hour ahead, we thought it was the right time. So we get all ready (and to me it felt painfully early), went down to the restaurant where breakfast was, and no one was there! That's when we realized we actually woke up at 5am instead of 6. Uhhgg. Oh well. So we walked along the beach for a while and we got to see the sunrise over the mountains. It was beautiful. 

We built the house for the family, which is the best part, obviously! As you can see from the pictures, it's super small, but they are so happy. I thought it was cool 'cause the Dad of the family was a pastor, so that was easy for Raleigh and I to identify with that part of their lives. This part of Mexico is in such sad shape. We saw some things down there we wish we'd never seen, but we experienced the people's kindness and gratitude, which was so sweet. It's a great trip, and we are grateful it went well. 

Here are some pictures of our trip! Enjoy them. :) 

My Job!!

Hey everyone, just thought I'd write about my job, 'cause most people reading this are from back in Oregon, and don't really know about it.

We have been down here now for a little over a year (weird!) and I haven't had success with jobs at all up until Sept. All last year and especially in the Spring/Summer I was looking for teaching jobs like crazy. But with the California budget crisis, districts were laying off teachers like crazy and it was looking SO bad for me getting a job. And, I didn't get a teaching job. So I looked for other things, and God provided me with the job I have now!

I work for a small company called Ministry Centered Technologies. Right now the only program they have is Planning Center Online (www.planningcenteronline.com if you want to check it out). It's a worship planning program that allows worship leaders at churches to quickly and very effectively plan worship services. Thousands of churches around the world use it. It's pretty cool. The guy who owns the company and created the program is one of my friends so that is kind of how I got this job. So....MY job is the Community Support Director. I do many things but my biggest priority is to answer phone calls and emails when people need support with the program. I also have been doing some tutorial videos and in the future will be doing some podcasts, which will be fun, 'cause I'll post them on the blog! It's so great. It's not stressful, it's fun, and the two guys I work with are really great Christians and fun guys. It's a full time job, so it keeps me busy. I've had to become very techy very quickly. :)

I never thought I'd be doing anything else besides teaching, and when God took me through such a dry time with NO JOBS, I never thought he'd give me something so fitting and so perfect for me right now. It just is such a reminder that when He says no to something, it's because He has something even better in mind. But that is very hard to see sometimes! I'm SO thankful for my job, and love it.

So, if your church ever needs a great worship planning tool, you know who to talk to. :) It's not very expensive and it's really easy to learn how to use. That's all for now! We are going to Mexico this weekend and then Seattle next week so I'll write about that and post pictures later.

Pictures of Halloween time.