Fall- A Fresh Start

Hello (all of you 3 or so people that read my blog), I am BACK! It's been far too long. I suppose when life gets busy, blogging is one of those things that sits on the back burner. However, I was recently inspired to start blogging again by my best friend's blog that she just created. It's just so therapeutic! So, here is a little catching up, through pictures...

Fall.

It's starting to feel like fall. Although the weather here (here being back home in Glendora, where I am now living) seems to be mood-swinging from hot to cold, I can tell it's starting to become fall. You can just feel it in the air. It's a time to start new again. Time for cozy sweaters, fires in the fireplace, yummy-smelling candles (although that's kind of all year for me...), walks outside in the brisk air with the few leaves that change color here in California. I've always been a summer girl, but I love fall more and more each year!

Fall Candles.

Every year growing up, when it becomes fall, my mom puts out yummy, fall-scented candles, has fires in the fireplace, and brews apple-cinnamon cider on the stove to make the house smell good. So these candles always remind me of fall in a nostalgic, comforting way.

Post-College Photoshoot Sesh # 1.

This is my lovely sister Cheri. She willingly obliged when I asked her to be my model because I want to continue using my camera and working on my photography skills! I'm nervous that now that I'm out of school I'm not going to make time to do all the creative things I love to do, so I am MAKING myself do them. Photography is quite high on the list. This photoshoot was a lot of fun and ended up with a fall/fashion sort of vibe. Isn't my sister gorgeous?!

Lists.

I now have a job (and feel very blessed!) that requires me to make lists, lists, lists! So it's a good thing I am naturally obsessed with making them. I don't know how people get by without them. then again, I do have a pretty bad memory...

To expand on the job, I was recently hired to be an Administrative Assistant at Glenkirk Presbyterian Church. More specifically, I'm in charge of all the publications they put out (weekly bulletin, devotional, brochures, advertisements, etc.), a lot of the website stuff, and other such projects. It's such a good fit as a first job for where I'm at in life right now- it's full-time, it's VERY close to home, all the people I work with are great, and it's allowing me to use the skills I attained in college. It's a good stepping stone for now.  

Puppy.

At this particular stage in my life, a puppy isn't the best idea. But I can't wait til I can get one in the next stage of my life! I am dying for a French Bulldog puppy or Boston Terrier puppy. This little guy is a French bulldog, and I love his coloring! In general I'm more of a big-dog person as opposed to a small-dog person, but these stout little guys are so flipping cute without being annoyingly small and yappy (Sorry to the people that like those kind). 

Israel.

This sumer I had the amazing opportunity to go on a short-term mission trip and serve in Israel. It was by far the best trip I've ever been on so far in my life. We stayed half the time in Nazareth and the other half in Jerusalem. We put on Vacation Bible school, served the church through various work projects, put on kid's festivals in very poor communities, helped at an orphanage, helped at a disabled home, and other similar things. We got to build amazing relationships not only with each other (the team) but also with people living in the places we visited. Such an amazing culture shock, my first of it's kind. 

In our spare time, we were able to visit amazing sites from the Bible, sites central to the life of Jesus. We were able to se some of the tension of Israeli-Palestinian conflict first-hand. And very excitingly, I was baptised by my dear friend and team leader Dr. Smith (for the first time besides my baptism as an infant) in the Jordan River (where John the Baptist baptised Jesus)! The entire trip was so full of amazing experiences. I would love to share them with you if you are interested at all. Just let me know!

That's it for now! There will be more to come soon...