Battle Studies

John Mayer's new album is out, Battle Studies, and I'm not sure if I support it, but I felt it was necessary for me to let you know. It's a little mellow, a little introverted, and includes a track with Taylor Swift. Just sayin'.

Who says I can't be free
From all of the things that I used to be
Rewrite my history
Who says I can't be free

from Who Says

Life as a Cougar

I should apologize for the lack of blogs. I try to update when I have something to update, which doesn't happen much these days.

In effort to keep learning (yep, I just linked to my own blog), I'm taking an art class at Cuesta. Cuesta is the community college here, a lot of them are trying to transfer into Cal Poly. Their mascot is a Cougar ... My art class is on bronze casting. I make a sculpture, make a plaster mold around it, burn out the original sculpture and fill the hollow space with bronze. It can get expensive if you make your original piece too big or too thick (see below).

Marriage: Douglas and I are doing great. I'm learning what it's like to split the holidays between our families.

Spiritual: Campus Crusade hasn't gotten back to me, yet. I'm looking into youth ministry again at a local church Mountainbrook; which from many angles is what I'm comfortable with. We'll see. God has reminded me that it's not where I serve, but who I serve.

This is my 1st piece in wax. The assignment was on planes/dimensions. The viewer should be able to see through the piece and see something different. Also, there is no front/back.Here it is with gating (red wax to help it maintain structure when I shove it into the plaster) and venting (when the bronze is poured in, it fills up all spaces). Oh, and it's upside down.
This are the plaster molds, mine has the hand print. That's Rae, who's from Fullerton. She's holding her wax in so it stays down while the plaster dries.
Bronze time! They molds are without the black paper around them, and they have been drained of wax. They are packed in sand in case there are bronze leaks.
Bronze hardens fast, so we took hatchets to the plaster to hack our piece out. You have to rinse the bronze off with cold water asap or else it will melt the asphalt! I'll post the final product soon!!

Fallbrook

D and I trekked down Fallbrook (Temecula area) this past week to see the fam - thought I would post some pictures of my niece and nephew, Arden and Ethan. They just had their birthdays, 4 and 2. WOW they grow so fast! This is Arden and Gracie-the-Fabulous...

Arden and I baked cupcake-shaped sugar cookies. She was very excited.Douglas entertained Ethan so he wouldn't eat all the frosting!Love you kiddies!

A Spiritual Update

It occurred to me at tonight at church that I've been running in circles. Much like when you stop spinning, it's only then that you realize you are actually dizzy; in retrospect I haven't had much focus. Right now I feel more grounded than I've felt in a while. I'm confident that's because I opened my ears long enough to hear God's voice.

Douglas and still I haven't found a church home. We've been to all but one in the area, and with his new work schedule (almost every Sunday) I'm less motivated to search. Since marriage, we've been attending Celebration - the college ministry-focused night church of First Baptist Church of SLO. I was there by myself, and the sermon wasn't particularly emotional, but all the sudden I started thinking about all the incoming freshman and other college kids that invade the city of San Luis in the fall and stay through the academic year. My first year here was so completely overwhelming, exciting, stressful and down right crazy at times. I want to be apart of that energy, I want to influence "kids". I love youth! I loved the years when I helped lead Jr. High, and to be honest I've been looking at a perfect time/place to do something similar. Because San Luis is a college town, why not there?

Cal Poly already has a huge Campus Crusade, and I'm open to that or anywhere else that needs me. I know that because I've decided to do ministry, I'm opening the flood gates for resistance, so I'm inviting you to pray for me and Douglas as I/we make this transition. Please say a few words to encourage us to find a church community, and an opportunity for us to give back to the bigger picture.

Much love to you, thank you!

yours.

West LA

Went into LA for a a couple days to visit old friends and the Llama. It brings me great joy that the nickname that my sister and I created for my mother at ages maybe, 14 & 12, has stuck for so many years. Working at WCS, some of the students picked up on it and a few bought her stuffed llamas. "Is Your Mama a Llama?" is a common request for bedtime reading from the niece and nephew at my parents house. Llama stemmed from a conversation from my sister and I, that strangely, my mother would never answer when we called her the usual Mama or Mommy. We secretly started calling her similarly sounding names (e.g. Salami). Llama stuck. Why give you insight to the colorful family I was born into? Because she means the world to me.

The Grove.

I put a new soap dish in the bathroom yesterday. It went like this:

Douglas: What is this?!

Me: Change.

pause.

Douglas: I'm skeptical.

I like change, but it's a hard concept to grasp sometimes.

Humboldt County

Went to a family reunion a few weekends ago, and forgot to blog about it! Heavens! There were a lot of pocket knives, plaid, and boots. Eighty Humboldtians in one place with no booze, it was a little crazy. Unrelated, I ended up getting sick (hence the bar code wrist bracelet) and paid a visit to the local urgent care. By local, I do mean a 1/2 hour away. Beautiful and green, it was nice to see all his family, who are fabulous gardeners - these dahlias below are as big as my face.

Thanks for tuning in for now, a real post coming soon!Douglas shaved his head for the summer...