So, clearly, the blog is not cooperating. Basically I know just enough about computer code to royally mess this up and not enough to be able to fix it. I did something, I just don't know what! I decided to just start over--I transfered all the stuff from this blog to my other one, and have a new blog up and running. So for those interested in continued reading, check out and book mark this address:

So as you can see, Sarah's blog got royally messed up somehow. And no, I have no idea what I did. So I'm working on it, but for now, ignore the blog and I'll let ya know when it's up and running again :)

About a month ago Chuck and I created a "date night jar" so that when it is Friday night we don't have to sit there looking at one another saying "what do you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" We spend an evening coming up with ideas of all kinds of things to do around LA together and then on Mondays we take turns drawing an item from the jar and making that item happen for Friday night. This past Friday we went to the Norton Simon art museum here in Pasadena and the task on the slip of paper was "find the most ridiculous piece of artwork." We found a couple. Here they are--any votes for the most ridiculous?

Every fall since I have been here in Southern California I've gotten a little used to seeing some smoke fill the skies and having some area of So Cal be engulfed in flames. Never, though, have the fires hit so close to our home or affected people we know and love. Just to clarify, we are not in any danger of being evacuated, these fires would have to burn through entire towns before it hit where we live. But, people we know well have been in trouble, and have been dangerously close to losing their homes. Many of our church members live in La Canada, La Crescenta and Glendale, which is directly where the fires are burning. School was supposed to start yesterday for our youth group kids but still hasn't started because the schools are evacuation centers and 60,000 people in these towns are not able to get to their homes. The skies here are awful, the smoke permeates everything, and all of us are praying for rain to come SOON! (Which is not in the forecast any time soon). Thought some of you might enjoy some pictures of what the world around here looks like.

Last night was our much awaited girls night out to celebrate our dear Tera's birthday--we had been looking forward to it for quite awhile! She found a place in Old Town Pasadena called Dashing Divas, a manicure/pedicure spa that serves cocktails while you receive your pampering. Let me just say this is quite a fabulous combination! It was the first time in 3 months all 7 of us from our small group were able to be in the same place and it was so fun to be together again! A trip to Pinkberry completed a wonderful summer evening.

In other news, there are two large fires burning around here, one about 15 miles to the east and one only about 5 miles to the west of us. These are a few photos of the smokey skies last night and then today--you can see how much worse they have gotten.

I can't take credit for finding this, a friend sent it to me as I was bemoaning the aggravating hormone swings that we as women go through in a month. This absolutely cracked me up, and for all you guys out there, this guy's not lying, being a woman is a completely unexplainable thing!

My Brief Life as a Woman

Wednesday we took a group of students from the youth group on a hike, which turned out to be awfully steep at times! It was about 6 miles round trip, but it felt like longer! The kids were troopers, it was a gorgeous view, and the end was a waterfall (sort of, it was kind of dry) but had a pool that people could jump into to cool off. Three snakes including one rattler were spotted (you can guess how much I loved that!) but all in all it was a great afternoon. I am definitely tired and sore today, and crashed by 9:30 last night after eating everything in sight! Enjoy some pictures!

Our family gathered in Everett, Washington this past weekend to finally have a chance to remember and say goodbye to Gramma Nan. She passed away back in June and we had her "celebration of life" party scheduled for this weekend so almost everyone could make it (one cousin wasn't able to get home for it). It was a beautiful weekend full of sharing stories, laughter, meeting all kinds of people whose lives she'd touched over the years, and just being together. Grandma did not want a funeral or a 'regular' memorial service. She didn't want anything formal, or in a church, or full of tears. Instead she wanted a big party, a BBQ on her favorite beach where hot dogs could be roasted and her ashes could be scattered. Wine from a box was her request, and of course, don't forget the marshmellows to be roasted! This was Grandma, this was where she was the happiest, these are the foods and activities that brought her the most joy. So we followed her directions and threw one heck of a party! Saturday was family-only out at Useless Bay, the beach we would all spend a week on every summer. Grandma would rent the home of a good friend of hers and we'd all gather and spend time walking, flying kites, building sand castles and roasting lots of hot dogs! It was where she was happiest, on her beach, surrounded by her family. So we took her ashes with us and recreated the scene for her on Saturday.

Sunday was a big community celebration where over 125 people gathered for a luncheon and to remember Grandma. She had lived in Everett since the 50s and knew everyone in town it seemed. I had written a post earlier about how much she volunteered, how much she gave back to her community. She never got a paycheck, she was a professional volunteer and dedicated her life to numerous charities. At the luncheon my aunt Peggy read a list of all the organizations Grandma had worked for and with in her lifetime, she structured it from A-Z, and while not all letters were covered, I thought this was pretty impressive. My dad spoke and said in his tribute that if all of us left this earth with a list like this, this world would be a much better place. I think he's right. Check this out--I'd say most of us have a ways to go before we even come close to the number of volunteer projects Grandma had participated in!