Monday, Monday

It was a busy weekend full of lots of activities including the below highlights:

• Tornado cleaning my apartment (in which I crank up the music and clean like a maniac while Greg is at work)
• Working a screening on the Disney lot for some super intense fans
• Attending an awesome birthday party at which all of the 40 or so guests worked up some sort of performance piece for the birthday girl (It was amazing)
• Hearing one of the most difficult, honest and loving sermons I've ever heard preached in a church on a Sunday morning
• Viewing a Middle School Production of "Little Shop of Horrors"
• Having a romantic dinner with my handsome (clean-shaven!!) husband

I took this picture in Hollywood right before the rain hit on Sunday morning:

My church's "steeple."

You can't really tell here, but this tree was full of little white blossoms.  So gorgeous. 

In other news, I recently learned that the play I was lucky enough to play a small role in last year is up for an award.  Actually, it's up for 4 awards!  According to the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, our production of Wit has been nominated for:

• Best Production
• Lead Performance
• Direction
• Lighting

I was honored to observe some very intense talent from my little corner of the stage (especially Nan, the lead, and Marianne, the director-- who are 2 women I admire very much).  It will be so exciting to attend the reception for the nominees at the end of the month, as well as the awards themselves next month.

Scrubs and mascara.  I've never been more eager to get into costume!



Old West Story Book Photo Shoot Birthday

Last night I got go to into one of the most gorgeous old homes I've ever been in.  This house was probably the closest thing I'll ever get to hanging out in Hearst Castle.  While multiple tenants now occupy the main house, the east and west wings, and what used to be the servant's quarters out back, it still feels very fluid and grand. 

Why was I in this amazing house, you ask?

My oh-so-talented friend Lori (the one who recently did wardrobe for the film Not That Funny) decided that she wanted to host an Old West photo shoot for her birthday and she somehow secured this house as the location for the shoot.  Isn't that an amazing idea!?  Lori continues to blow me away as an artist because of ideas like that...

Ultimately, she's going to compile these images into a book along with a story line that she's allowing me to help write (FUN!)  Here's a peek at some of the characters that shall be gracing the pages-- keep in mind that these are unedited at this point, this was just a sampling that she posted on the facebook:

The Wardrobe Changer

(aka Lori, the birthday girl!)

The Book Binder

The Gambler

The Native

The Inn Keeper

The Railroad Travelling Family Band

The World Traveler and Photographer

The Warrior

The Art Collector

Note how Lori dressed all of us using the materials she had to make some stunning costumes.  What a talent!  I'm so blessed by friends like her and the folks who lent their faces to these pictures.  All of them have such remarkable stories.

Sort of inspires you to want to shake things up for your next birthday, doesn't it?

Breakfast

Last night I fell into deep delicious dreaming at like 9pm. (I guess I WAS tired from my trip!)

I am feeling much more refreshed than I was at the end of my day yesterday, and I'm currently curled up in a booth at Franks waiting for a girlfriend who's meeting me for breakfast.

I am a firm believer that breakfast is the most important meal of the day-- and beyond the nutritional benefits, I feel that breakfast with a dear friend can start the whole day off right. It sets the tone for the morning, and this morning is guaranteed to be full of loving encouragment and sisterly fellowship. (Yay!)

Have a great day!

Weekend in Oklahoma

This past weekend I had the pleasure of visiting sweet friends and loved ones in Oklahoma.  My friend Amy took me all over my old stomping grounds, including our old college campus, and the town I lived in during high school.  It was crazy to see how much had changed, and how much had stayed exactly the same.

We drank lots of coffee, and for some reason I kept taking pictures of it:

Brunch on my first day there

A new (well, new to me) cupcake place called "Cuppies & Joe." 

I stopped taking pictures of coffee after this, but for the record, there was a lot more of it!

I took many more pictures, but a lot of them were of Amy's house (to show Greg!), which I'm sure she'd appreciate me not posting on my blog  :)  You'll have to use your imaginations, but let me tell you what, her house is SO CUTE.  Quite an eye for decorating, that one.

This is a picture of the weirdest thing that happened during our otherwise average girly weekend of shopping and lunching:

Yes, that's Elmo walking down some random neighborhood street.  SO WEIRD. 

I told Amy to drive on and not to make eye contact, but I think he totally knew I took his picture. 

Awkward. (Of me)

I really had a delightful visit, but as always it's good to be home too.  I really missed Greggers for one thing.  I learned this weekend that it's harder to leave a husband back in California than a boyfriend.  All was well and good but I definitely struggled with the desire to be in two places at once in a way that I haven't experienced before.  Hopefully the next time I get to visit Greg will be able to come with me!

Today I am back in my office and feeling a little bit jet-lagged from getting home so late yesterday.  Maybe I'm cranky from playing catch up all day in the office, but I'm really wrestling today with three ugly qualities that occasionally creep up on me for whatever reason: disappointment, jealousy, and distrust. 

I can't believe that this particular trio is so present upon returning from such a wonderful weekend, but these 3 little demons know how to wear me down from time to time.  They speak only lies, but somehow I manage to fluidly understand their poisonous tongue and all day their whispers have been chipping away at my spirit.

I'm weary now and going home to rest and relax (and recover).  I am not going to let these stupid feelings dig footholds into me, and I have no room in my heart for such nonsense. 

Greg's funny joke

Had to share the funny thing that Greg said the other day when we were driving home and saw this poster as we passed a bus stop:

"Spoiler alert: There ARE strings attached!"

Bwaha ha ha!  He is so funny :)

Feelin' hot, hot hot!

It's mid-January, but for some reason Southern California decided to kick it up a notch and we enjoyed some random 80 degree weather all weekend. 

You know what a return to warm weather usually means for Greg and me...

Burgers and a trip to the Soda Pop shop!!

We may or may not have eaten burgers for lunch two days in a row. 

And yesterday, we definitely recruited our friend Andy and visited Galco's for some amazing sodas.  It had been too long, the choices were plentiful and the decisions were tough:

Boys and their winter-time-beards...

Seriously.  SO. MANY. CHOICES.

Andy even found a namesake drink to try out.

I got a day off yesterday in honor of MLK, it was so wonderful to have an extra day with Greg since I'm out of town this coming weekend.  Where am I going?  OKLAHOMA! 

(I guarantee it won't be 80 degrees this weekend.)

City girl

You guys, I just claimed the heck out of a parking spot in front of UPS!!!

There are like 2 measly parking spots behind the UPS that I frequent whenever I have to rush a package to a journalist for Saturday delivery.  Usually I just double park because I know I'll be so quick-- But today those 2 dumb spots were already taken and double blocked.  (Rats!)

So I drove the length of the block, perusing the "No Parking" signs behind the surrounding businesses to see if I can get away with dropping my car for a brief moment, but not finding any wiggle room, I doubled back towards UPS.

Low and behold!  A parallel spot was opening up to my left!  Quickly I flipped on my blinker and after glancing to make sure I was clear, I flung my car's body to the right and smoothly switched gears to reverse.  However, before I could complete the maneuver, a man in a shiny silver (expensive looking) car sidled up behind me, also with his blinker on, eyeing my spot.

We both sat there.  Staring at each other through my rearview mirror.  It was a slow motion game of parking-style "chicken" while we held our breaths and waited one another out.  I knew I was there first, but if the guy came around the corner at a certain angle, he may not have seen me. 

"My blinker was ON, Sucka!  Back it up, I can sit here alllll daaaay looonngg..."

I sat up a little straighter in my seat.  The missing hubcaps on my front tires winked at the metallic curves of my nemesis.  I tried to look as gangsta and threatening as I could.

"That's right, Pal: I'm missing hubcaps.  I might live in a dangerous neighborhood and get into car-bruising 'disagreements' all the time.  Who knows what I might be capable of if I can't park my lil' ol' car and get on with my business..."

Before I knew it, the guy turned off his blinker and moved along.

VICTORY!!  I did it!  I'm such a city girl!

Toe the line

Greg and I have no idea what our future holds, but there are a number of variables we've got on the table that may (or may not) pop up in the next few years.

We are both planners, so I think we've got scenarios for any number of circumstances that may occur, and some of those possible scenarios include moving away from Los Angeles.

As homesick as I was before the holidays, the option to move closer to family became more and more appealing to me.  For about the past 6 months, I have been wearing the possibility of moving as if it were my preference.  It was almost as if I had started an imaginary countdown to our unofficial moving date.

Then something strange began to happen.  My countdown made me nostalgic for some of the most routine parts of my life out here in Los Angeles.  I'm missing LA, even though I'm still here!

Greg and I were talking the other night about how we feel like such a part of both California and the Midwest.  And on the other hand, there are also ways in which we also feel like outsiders in each place as well. 

Before Christmas I was romanticizing Oklahoma and making myself think that I preferred it there.  There's no one place that trumps the other.  In California I ache for Oklahoma, Georgia, Virginia, Florida, Texas... and when I'm elsewhere I miss my life in California.

Moving may be in our future at some point in time, or Greg and I might set up camp here permanently.  But I will make the most of my time here, however long we end up having.  I will continue to invest in the people that I know and love in my various communities as if I will spend the rest of my life as their neighbors. 

And when I travel, I will make the most of my visits.  I will savor the precious time that I have with loved ones, and I will make the extra effort to feed my relationships that are long distance.

And should the day come, when moving away is the right option for Greg and me, I will wrap my arms around this city and take it with me in the best way I know how.  I will carry this beautiful city in my heart the way that I carry my other beloved homes with me now.  And I will make room for even more communities yet to come.

Sex talk

It seems like for a while now, it's become really hip for churches to offer a series about sex.  Maybe it's just me, but in the past few years I feel like I've seen a lot of hype in Christian churches and media in which the headline is basically: "Yeah, we're going there, we're going to talk about SEX!"

I can appreciate the hype.  I can see why talking about sex in church can be considered taboo, especially with the incredible secrecy surrounding everything from sex additions to sexual abuse.  I could bore you with statistics, but I won't list the current research for you, other than to say that 1 in 3 clicks on porn sites these days are women.  And that 70% of Christian males admit to using porn, many of them confessing that it has become a problem (of addiction) for them.

Talking about it is dangerous territory isn't it?  To talk about sex in church.  With all the different feelings and opinions about sex even within the Christian community, this is one topic that you know you will piss people off.  And while I absolutely believe that our churches SHOULD be going there, I understand why it's so scary.  Many of us are clinging to lies and sometimes the truth hurts and upsets.

This podcast, entitled "Skin: The Body Matters" is the best church sermon I've heard yet discussing what the Bible tells us about sex.  (Click on "show details" under the sermon entitled "Skin: The Body Matters" to play.) 

The sermon is honest and articulate in a way that I haven't heard before, and the pastor (Joseph King Barkley) does a really great job at lovingly pointing his congregation back towards what he interprets as God's intention for sex.  I felt convicted, sure, because we all fall short of that initial intention-- but I never felt judged-- which I think it important any time the truth is being taught.

I rarely listen to podcasts when people recommend them to me.  But if you have 30 minutes to kill, I think this one is really worth your while.

(FYI-- This will be the sex talk that my future kids hear when that time comes.  Dum dah dum!)

Season of Change

Here's a picture of the cake I made for Greg last night.  He had a couple of Rigor Tortoise boys over for a meeting so I baked while they talked and then we sang "Happy Birthday" to Greg and dug in.  Greg chose cherry chip flavored with cream cheese icing-- pretty tasty.

Since Greg had business to discuss last night, I think that tonight Greg and I are going to celebrate his birthday with a date, just the two of us.  Greg wants to see True Grit, so I think we'll do dinner and a movie.  (Greg, if you're reading this you should decide where you'd like to eat or what you'd like me to cook for you!)

In other news, our sweet Douglas Fir had to go.  He hung in there for quite a while, considering we put up our tree just after Thanksgiving.  But once we got back from Oklahoma he was good and dead.  Our city recycles Christmas trees by turning them into mulch to be used around town throughout the year, so we looked up the curbside pick ups online and decided that Douglas Fir would be moving out Tuesday morning.  He put up quite a fight:

Surely there was a more dignified way to go...

I moved him by myself, which was stupid.  I know Greg would have helped me take the tree outside but he was working and when I came home Monday night I just wanted Douglas Fir OUT already.  Plus, I knew it would be a mess and I didn't want it to get too late because I wanted to be able to vacuum without being THAT neighbor. 

I had pine needles in my underwear and in the bottoms of my shoes by the time I had heaved and wrestled that tree to the curb-- don't ask me how that happened.  So our kitchen seems much more spacious now, but I confess that I do miss the smell and the cheery presence that Douglas Fir provided.

The holiday season has come to a close and while I didn't make any resolutions this year I am very aware of the new year ahead of me.  Not in a good or a bad way-- just: it's 2011 now.  Wow.

I was writing an email to my brother last night while I was hiding in our bedroom to keep my distance from the pitch meeting happening in our living room.  While I was writing, I was reflecting on the visit we had with Eric last summer, and I remembered how incredibly hot it was during the weekend my bro was in town.  So unbearably hot that even laying on the floor with a fan focused right on us didn't cool us off in the hottest part of the day.  We escaped to the air conditioned mall and the movies to find relief. 

Eric and me, last summer, chilling out.  (Or, well, trying to anyway!)

As I recalled that memory, all nestled in my warm down comforter piled with extra blankets in my drafty and cold apartment, I just couldn't imagine that sort of heat.  Oh I remember it-- I mean, I remember it happened, but feeling as chilled as I was, I couldn't imagine the sort of heat that would cause me to have to seek solace in another place.

I've been thinking so much about the end of the holiday season, and with the colder weather that's been hitting LA lately I've been thinking a lot about seasons in general.  Maybe this is a stretch, but I couldn't help but think about the seasons God takes me through as well.  And thank goodness he does walk me through seasons, because how soon I forget. 

I couldn't even imagine the feeling of heat last night.  Natural heat.  And in the summer time, I can't always recall the smell of Christmas potpourri or the taste of pumpkin butter.  Oh I can remember that I like those smells and tastes, but the specifics... I can't always grasp.

How awesome is God that he knows we need things shaken up a bit every now and then simply so that we can appreciate even the most minimal blessings (and yes, I do consider TJ's pumpkin butter a blessing!)  We need to rediscover the extremes of feeling hot and cold, tasting sour and sweet, feeling pain and happiness... so that we can remember to seek him in all weather.  So that we remember to praise him for even the simplest blessings, and so that we cling to him in the seasons of uncertainty or discomfort.

Thanks God, for being smarter than me and for all the ways you beckon me back to you.
     Love,
        Beth

One of the best births EVER -- 30 years ago TODAY!

(I'm sure it was really difficult for you to guess that the birthday boy is none other than: my amazing husband!!)

Greggers,
I am so glad that you were born, so that I could marry you right up!  You are a good man.  It has been a pleasure knowing you for the past 12 years, and an even bigger pleasure being your darling for the past, what, 3 years?  I hope the year ahead of you will be blessed, and that as you stand on the threshold of a new decade, you'll make the most out of the time you've been given.  And hey, thanks for choosing to spend a lot of that time with me!

I love you a millions times over, you are a wonder.
Beth

My birthday boy.

(Aaand, I'm pretty sure that 7-year-old Beth was sporting those exact same bangs in 1988.  We were fated to be together before we even knew one another.)

Fun fact:  It was on this day 2 years ago that Greg asked me to be his wife :)
I'd say yes all over again if he ever felt the need to ask me again.

Happy 2011!

I'm back!  I took a bit of an (unintentional) blog break the past few weeks because I guess when I'm not stuck behind a computer for 8 hours a day, I don't really think to make time to sit behind one.

After our stellar pre-Christmas trip to Oklahoma, I returned to Cali and had the week between Christmas and New Year's off work.  It. Was. AWESOME.

Today I feel refreshed and it isn't overwhelming at all to work my way through my email and touch base on various projects.  It's also good to see my coworkers again, we have a great team over here.  It was nice to hear what everyone else did over their holidays.

BIG NEWS: 
Greg drank a soda after a whole year without:

I'm really proud of him.

I don't really have any resolutions this year, but I'm excited for the year ahead.  This week off gave me plenty of time to be all domestic and home-maker-ish, and I realized how happy that made me.  I'm hoping to continue that productivity around our apartment even though I'm back at work now... maybe that could be my resolution?

Anyway, here's to 2011, and may God go before you this year and place blessings in your path!