friends...

just a few fun photos since i've been home....

merry christmas!!

hey friends...
just wanted to say that i think ya'll are great....and i hope you've had a relaxing, refreshing, joyful, funny, and special time celebrating Jesus today!

home sweet home for christmas

i rolled into town safely on thursday...and wow, it is so very good to be here! home is such a great place. great people. as i walked in the back door for the first time, my heart just breathed a sigh of relief. there's just something about being home...the comfort of it. the familiarity of it. the safety of it. it's so good.

one of the exciting things the first night i was here was seeing my sister all big and stuff. she's due in about 3 weeks and she is so lovely :)

whoa!

so ya know those verses in the psalms that say, "the heavens declare the glory of God. the skies proclaim the work of his hands"? well...i'm not saying that the Bible wasn't written as it should've been...but...if i lived back in that day, and if i were a writer of the scriptures, and if i just so happened to live in northern california at the time, i think i would've written it something like this..."the giant sequoias declare the glory of God, their height proclaims the work of his hands!" :)
i cannot even begin to put in accurate words just how stunning these trees are...oh my goodness! it's safe to say that i have never seen anything like them before...and never will again because i just so happened to see the biggest tree in the world! it's called the general sherman. (it's 275 feet tall and 105 feel around) and it's unbelievable!

i took a little detour on my way back down to southern california and went to kings canyon and sequoia national parks. it's beautiful country. the mountains. the trees. the snow. the winding roads. the sunshine. the view. amazing. one of the spots i went through was called the giant forest. which turned out to be a perfect name. it made me feel like mini-brooke as i passed through.
one of the last photos here....the one of the root system of the fallen down tree...the thing is so stinkin' big that i climbed up and stood up in the middle of it. so cool.

an evening in san fran

my adventure continues...last night matt and tracy (the couple that i'm working with) and i cruised over to san fransicso for dinner. i love going to new places! we took public transportation, which brought back memories of my days in chicago. so many different kinds of people. so many different stories hidden behind their faces. so much people watching to be done! it was a very pleasant city. i liked it quite much. although, it was nearly dark when we arrived which meant that i could barely see the golden gate bridge or the ridiculously steep streets...it was still so great. we went to fisherman's wharf and heard a slew of barking sea lions...ate at a nice place by the water...walked in an a morgan stanley christmas party on accident...saw the cable cars passing by...and it was just a fun experience, which included some silly photos. and while i couldn't quite make it out to alcatraz, a photo by the semi advertisement sounded just as good. my fav is the random one of matt and tracy and the large head of a woman. :)

only six days until i'm home :):)

from redwoods to liquid sandpaper

just in case it was ever in question before....it is official now that i absolutely love trees! i had the opportunity to see some redwoods for the first time the other day, and it was so terrific! i've dreamed about seeing them for a long amount of time, and sometimes God brings things about in funny ways that i never would've even imagined. (hmmm....that kinda sounds like a verse i've heard before) so the reason that i had to come up north in california (which is exactly where the redwoods are found) was because of a temporary job with a construction company. what?! me....construction?! haha. funny. but it's true. i came up to oakland to work at a fedex facility for the week. never would've thought that would be the circumstances under which i would be able to see some of the most incredible trees. but it's great! i think on the way back down to southern california, i'm going to have to continue the experience of seeing redwoods and sequoias:)
not only has it been a time to expand my view of the Lord's absolutely beautiful creation, but as i was working today, i learned that there is such a thing as liquid sandpaper. who knew?! it's crazy. it's weird.

nine days until i'm in the snow of northern illinois :)

stay tuned for some photos of trees...

rockford in 17 days!!!

i just wanted to let the world know that i have the joy and privilege of going home for 11 whole days starting on the 20th!! there's nothing quite like being at home for christmas....i'm excited. :)