Lazy Sunday

Dolce likes to hang out with Daddy and watch basketball on TV.

Some fierce orange and hot pink roses, courtesy of our landlord's green thumb.

Julia's Bridal Shower

Francis's cousin Julia is getting married in June. She met an amazing guy on Match.com and now they're getting hitched. They could be on the commercial.

Absolutely horrendous photo of me and Julia.

Even more horrendous photo of me and Aunt Cathie.


The bridal shower and fun and low key. Julia has an eclectic group of girlfriends that I had fun getting to know. Looking forward to the wedding on June 20.

Meeting Miss Sophia

We drove down to Bakersfield late on Thursday night to meet our new niece. As expected, she was scrumptiously cute and delicately soft. Angelic when asleep and heart-breaking when upset. Equal parts poopy, hungry, and sleepy. Sporting a full head of sweet-smelling hair. Driving her parents wild with love. Even at midnight, and 2 a.m., and 4 a.m., and 6 a.m.

Someday, Sophia will be graduating from high school. She will be pretty, smart, and ambitious, just like her mom. I will look back at this photo and feel very old. But I will certainly enjoy watching my "niece nugget" grow up.

Baptism on Easter Sunday

The idea of baptism has an important place in the Christian faith. First of all, it is one of the only "works", or actions, that is requested of a person who has decided to believe in and follow Jesus. Christians generally eschew rituals and rites. They place more emphasis on the inward shaping of their heart than the outward display of religion. On Easter Sunday, I joined a long line of Christians leading back to Jesus himself who have participated in the sacrament of baptism as a way to outwardly show an inward decision. The cleansing in water is meant to symbolize the cleansing of my heart by Jesus, who has absorbed all the dirt of my selfishness and cruelty. Though I have to admit that His cleansing is much more thorough than the water I stepped into that day. There may or may not have been a glimmering sheen of oil on top of the water, glistening in the sun.

Here I am with Darcy, a church staff member and friend. She interviewed me in front of a small crowd of church members.

She asked me to briefly explain when I decided to believe in Jesus, once and for all. (It was while I was driving on the 101 at 5:00am in November 2007.)

I got to have two studly men hold my hands at the same time. And to think I didn't want to get baptized at first! That's Rob, our church's high school pastor, on the right and Justin, our Twenties pastor on the left.

At the very moment this photo was taken, I was extremely worried about water going up my nose. It did, in fact, go up my nose.

Justin gave me a post-dunk hug.

And so did my proud husband. :) He is risen, and He can do anything! I am living proof.

Sleepy family

Twenties Community Group Home Meeting

On the first Thursday of every month, Francis and I host the fifteen members of the Bible study we lead in our tiny living room.

We eat dinner together, discuss God, update each other on what's going on in our lives, and just generally hang out. I particularly enjoy the short commute home.

Jane wowed us with her Smore pie. Melty marshmallow, graham cracker, and chocolate. I did not enjoy the marshmallow superglued to my plates the next morning. But it was worth it!

Our New Cottage!

Thanks to a hookup from our good friend Danielle, we moved into this great little cottage in the Burlingame/Hillsborough area on January 31. Danielle called us toward the end of December and said she was moving out of her cottage and wondered if we might be interested in replacing her. Her landlords trusted her good taste in friends (of course) and were happy to welcome anyone she recommended. We have been so blessed by this move, I cannot express it strongly enough. God has clearly made a provision for us to have a safe home that is closer to San Francisco and the flower shop, while still being within our price range.

Our cottage is situated behind the main house, owned by a sweet couple, Bob and Jane. They are so accommodating and down-to-earth. They own a black Persian cat and a little brown doggie that loyally follows her owner around as he tinkers in his beautiful gardens. Bob is out there in the garden most every day, rain or shine.


Close parking spot!

Cute little entrance and window boxes filled with geraniums.

Stone path behind our bedroom windows leads down to a babbling brook. (I swear, I am not making this up! It is literally that idyllic.)

Stream is bursting thanks to our recent heavy rain.

Seating area to the side, with a heat lamp.

Dolce modeling our living room. The fireplace and mantle are a homey touch.

As usual, our living room doubles as an office for both me and Francis.

The cottage came with this awesome TV stand, which has lots of storage for my business supplies and records underneath.

Limited space means the entry hallway doubles as a ladies room for Dolce. This shot taken from the living room. Front door to the right, bedroom to the left, and the kitchen is at the end of the hall.

Miniature fridge means we have to be more careful when we go food shopping, but it has worked out so far. Still plenty of room for magnets and photos.

A VERY small kitchen, but that's ok. No worse than our last apartment. There is actually quite a bit of cabinet storage too.

Our bedroom has a ceiling fan. Not much sunlight enters this room, which is great for naps. You can hear the stream out back as you lay in bed, like one of those relaxation CD's.

The blue carpet in our bedroom totally reminds me of the old Turner house in Roslyn.

Door to our closet.

The walk-in closet is small, but there is enough space for both of us.


Ok, the bathroom has one very weird quirk. Behind the shower is a giant picture window! I am guessing it was designed that way to let in lots of natural light. It's awesome to have a tub after four years of a stall shower. The blue tiles stay very cold, so when the hot air touches them while taking a hot shower, it creates major steam and condensation on the tiles. None of these things matter compared to the joy of a hot shower. Our old apartment would only have lukewarm water throughout the winter time. Hot showers = pure bliss!

That's all for now. Hope you've enjoyed the tour of our new home. :)