U2 + grilled corn

Short story: we have an incredibly generous Swiss friend named Levin.  He called us an hour before the U2 concert started at the Rose Bowl and told us to be ready to go in 20 minutes.  ...he bought us tickets!  The show was amazing and it was really fun to go to such a huge event only five minutes from our place, not to mention for free. :)

 

Giant expanding screen that Stephen says is very detailed, in terms of engineering. ;)

 

 

We also helped grill corn for Allelous at Fuller's annual Harvest Party- we were the Asia Crew.  Brianna (my exercise buddy!) grew up in Papua New Guinea and Arthur is 1/2 Japanese and just got back from living in Tokyo for five years. 

 

The boys made a big fire...not so good when lots of little kids are around...:)

 

update

Happy Halloween everyone!  Stephen and I celebrated by dressing as burritos so that we could get free burritos at Chipotle.  This consisted of putting some foil on our bodies, and that's about it (to look like a burrito wrapped in foil...although mine was pretty minimal ;)).  Spontaneously, half of Allelous decided to go so we had a festive time with a bunch of our community-mates. 


And now I'm stuck in for the evening working on two papers.  But at least I get an extra hour tonight!  :) 

I have a part-time job now assisting a physical therapist/counselor in her home office about five minutes from our place.  I had my first day this week and I enjoyed it and the woman I work for.  It's a really nice, relaxed environment and super flexible- two great aspects of a job while doing grad school. 

Stephen had two interviews last week- please pray that he gets a yes to both interviews!  We will update with details when there is news.

We are missing all our friends and family- it's strange to be away from home but still in the states.  I've been realizing that I'm glad I did Fuller part-time the past several years so that we're only required to be here for 15 months.  Although we do really love it here so far- all that is missing is...YOU!

We are excited that my grandparents will be at their place in Palm Springs soon.  We look forward to Thanksgiving and a weekend away.  And we hope to get to Stephen's grandparent's in Arizona soon.  :)

This week and next I'm in an intensive course called "Poverty & Development" and it is DEFinitely intense.  Not only the pace but also the subject matter.  I'm really excited to learn all of it.  It's completely applicable to what I did in China last year and my internship at World Vision this past summer.  The professor is Bryant Myers, the "guru" of Transformational Development (with a Biblical worldview).  I read his book Walking With The Poor before I went to China and studied his teaching at SPU.  He worked for World Vision International for 30+ years and is a walking encyclopedia of first-hand development knowledge, skills and experiences/stories.  I'm really thankful that one night in Japan the thought popped into my mind to see if there were any internship opportunities at World Vision US in Federal Way- because sacrificing pay for the experience this summer is proving to be fruitful in many ways, including helping me tie all that I learned there with this class, with my previous experiences abroad and with refugees in Seattle.  I'll be taking more Development courses this year - like Conflict, Relief & Refugees, along with Research Tools & Methodology.  

The two other courses I'm in are:
-Church & Mission in a Global Context
-Current Trends in Islam

Anywho, there's an update on my academic life!  

I'll write more about what I'm learning...someday when I don't need to be writing papers. :)

-Jill

weekend fun

Stephen brushing up on some calculus for a math tutor interview

 

Rose Bowl aquatics center

 

Zuma Beach, Malibu

 

 

some photos...

The long drive...to lanes lined with palms trees...

to our little bungalow...

to a brand new library (with the most comprehensive seminary collection in the nation)...

with a great sundeck and beautiful view of the mountains...

to our neighborhood Trader Joe's (the original!)...

to a billboard of our fav tv show on Sunset Blvd...(please excuse the low-quality cell phone photos) ;)

California, here we are!

Hello from Pasadena, 91104, USA! 

More specifically, hello from Allelous Intentional Community, our new home, 1.5 miles from Fuller Theological Seminary.  We love our cute little bungalow, built in the 1930's.  The community was the first housing that Fuller purchased...many amazing people have come and gone through here- if only these walls could talk.

We are pretty settled now, school is three weeks in, and Stephen has found a part-time job to generate some moolah while he continues the search for a job that will utilize all of his amazing mechanical engineering skills.  Job hunting is not fun, but he is thankful for the time off and we are thankful for the time together.

We have met many people in these weeks, gone on some adventures including exploring Los Angeles, meeting up with old friends from high school, a community retreat on an almond farm,  as well as frequent trips to the Rose Bowl to run and swim.  The weather is gorgeous and we are continuously confused by the Halloween decorations...isn't it still summer? 

We miss friends and family a lot, but we are excited to finally be here so that I can finish this chapter in my academic career.  Allelous has been an incredible support, beginning with the unloading of our moving truck in a record 20 MINUTES!  It took about 7 hours to load, so at 11:30 pm after 14 hours of driving this was a good way to be welcomed into a community of people who knew our names and were looking forward to meeting us.

We will be adding to this in the coming days.  Please post comments/questions and let us know how you are doing!

As far as we know, I will be finished with my masters degree in Cross-Cultural Studies with an emphasis in Islamic Studies next December, 2010.  Hopefully Stephen will have found an incredible job that he loves, which could mean that we would possibly stay a bit longer.  Allelous has several spots for alumni, so we could potentially fill those and remain living in the community.  But who knows...for now we are happy and feel so blessed by what we have and are excited to see what is in store for us in the future!

We hope all is well in Seattle and Denver and everywhere else in the world where there are people we love!

-Jill (& Stephen)

Stephen was superman and drove the ENTIRE way.  We had a 16 foot truck and towed our car behind...a big job.  Thank you Stephen!

 

 We stayed two nights with my beautiful friend Mary and her husband Nolan and puppy Gunner on the way down.  They have a new home- it was great to finally see her new life in Medford, OR.

 

 

On our first adventure out of Pasadena we started with the Griffith Observatory which has a great view of LA and if you squint you can see the  HOLLYWOOD sign in this photo. :)

BAYWATCH!

Next stop was Venice Beach in Santa Monica.  We checked out Muscle Beach and watched the sunset.  The water was so warm too...we plan to have a beach day sometime this week.