There’s really not much new in the Saldanha world. In fact, life has been kind of a letdown since returning from Disneyland. Kate cried for days and refused to take off her mouse ears. I wandered around the living room muttering, “Forty-five minutes? You expect me to wait in line for forty-five minutes?!?” Slowly but surely, our rehabilitation into daily life has succeeded, and now we’re back to it.

Kate always says she gets kind of angry when she goes to one of her favorite blogs and there isn’t a new post. The problem is, what is there to write about? I’ve decided to make a list of upcoming events that may, or may not, be newsworthy:

• I recently purchased a new digital SLR camera and a couple lenses to shoot wedding photos for the future Adam and Jen Sisson. So embarks my “career” as a wedding “photographer.”
• Kathryn and I have been a part of a couple’s study that meets bi-monthly with the ever-wise Steve and Shelly Larson. It has indeed been a blessing.
• This Saturday is the wedding of Abby Gleason and Andrew Stern. We couldn’t be happier for two amazing people.
• In August, I am attempting to reclaim my manhood whilst climbing Long’s Peak – a 14,000+ ft mountain in the Rockies. It’s grueling, but it will indeed be manly. I need to do this.
• Our summer connection group time will be starting up, which is always a fun time. BBQ and backyard sports. And there’s a supposed softball match with the Wallace’s.

That’s pretty much the hap’s. It’s always a little disheartening when you see someone you haven’t seen for a while and they ask, “What’s new?” And you respond, “Uhhhhh . . . nothing? Yup, nothing.” I always get convicted that I should be doing something, anything, that warrants a response to that question.

So what’s new with you?

And remember, yah mo b there.

I’m not the best blogger – I forget about it, I don’t feel like typing, I don’t know what to say, etc.
But I get crabby when blogs that I normally check on a regular basis haven’t been updated in awhile. I’m a hip-hop-o-hypocrite. (Right Britt?)

So! Here is Part 2 of our California adventure!! Los Angeles!!

• We rented a car and drove from SanFran to Los Angeles. Chris warned me that it would be close to 12 hours and would I get bored/ansy/carsick.  (He was so right on with me, it’s scary). I thought that since the scenery would not be corn/flatness/wind turbines, I would be okay. And I was right! I wasn’t ready to be out of the car when we arrived!!!
• On the way, we stopped at Big Basin National Park and walked around in the woods, stopping every so often at trees that not only were a couple THOUSAND years old, they were a couple HUNDRED FEET HIGH. Astounding. The pictures didn’t do them justice at all. It was so serene, so quiet, so lovely. We had lunch on a bench in front of one of the largest trees in the forest/world. Not too many words were spoken while we were there. There’s not much to say when you’re in the midst of such grandeur. (Celeb Sighting – 0)
• In N’ Out Burger!! That was another one of our stops along the way! Delicious!! You ask for it “Animal Style” which no one really knows what that means. It’s not on the menu, so I was expecting the cashier to give me a big ol, “huh!??!” when we asked, but she didn’t bat an eye. And animal style was what we got. So good. My first sip of pop in a couple weeks happened that night as well. Syrupy goodness. But I don’t really miss it. (Celeb sighting – 0)
• On our way to L.A., we were cruising along the coast and it was SO windy! AND being the frugal pals that we are, we got a cheap little Chevy Aveo, or rather, Chevy Wind-Blow-Me-Off-The-Road. Literally. We heard this SCREEEEEEECH sound and realized that the wind was coming OFF the hills on our left and blowing us across the highway TOWARDS THE WATER!!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
• Along that same stretch (around Santa Barbara), we saw an ominous orange glow off in the hills. It was quite eerie at night, especially after we realized it was the neighborhoods that were on fire. *Shudder* Disturbing. (Celeb Sighting – 0)
• We stayed with Chris’ dad Rui. Quite a character!! He is a very generous man, opening his home to us! With Rui, we cruised around LA in his snazzy little car, checked out Pink’s HotDog stand (an LA staple – Chris’ had swiss cheese on hot dog. Strange), the Getty Museum (thanks, Crabby Sandy for the awesome tour!)  Venice Beach (scary), the Griffin Observatory (awesome), Hollywood Blvd (dirty but fun), Rodeo Drive (fancy), the LaBrea Tar Pits (strange/interesting), Universal Studios (so exciting), PinkBerry (oh my oh my. the best thing my little mouth has EVER tasted) (Celeb Sighting AFTER ALL THAT – 0)
• We were able to have dinner in town with some lovely friends, Josh and Rochelle Beck. What an amazing couple. God is doing such cool things in their lives.
• Some would say, “How could your trip have gotten any better?” And I would say, “Are you so DULL!?!??! You’re forgetting the most important thing of all: DISNEYLAAAAAAAAAAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”  Friday morning, we got up bright and early, got in our cutie little rental car (Mazda 3! Silver! Our sweet little dream car!!!) and drove the 30 miles to Anaheim. Keep Left. Keep Left. Keep Left. My heart didn’t stop palpitating the entire way there. I WAS SO EXCITED!!! We arrived about 11:30 a.m. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the air smelled like corn dogs and flowers. It is the happiest place on earth. I couldn’t have asked for a better day. We rode Space Mountain (OH MY WORD) three times, Thunder Mountain Railroad (so great) three times, the Matterhorn, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, and anything else we could get our hands on!!!!!!!! As the sun set, we were ready for more. We finally left the park at midnight. It truly was the best day of the trip and one of the most fun times I have had. EVER. (Celeb Sighting – 0)
• Saturday morning, we packed up and headed to the Burbank airport and said our goodbyes. With mouse-ears in tow, we left California. And just when I thought we were going to leave with Celeb Sighting – 0, my observant and delightful husband turned in the Burbank airport and who was sitting behind us?!??!!?  Why, none other than ERIC WAREHEIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

            *crickets*

             You know, Eric Wareheim!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

             No?

            The guy from the Adult Swim show on Comedy Central,                   “Tim And Eric Awesome Show Good Job!”???

          Still no?

         Well, it was him and he’s awesome.

What a wonderful, relaxing, entertaining, challenging trip.  I love you, Christopher.

Celeb Sighting – 1!!!!!!!!!!

Just saying (or typing, rather) the word makes me feel kinda dirty. It’s always been a strange sounding word to me. But God said it, so I guess it’s okay.

I’m not a big Mark Driscoll fan, but I was listening to a message of his about the heart. He was saying that all issues of sin are really a matter of the heart. Drinking problem? Gotta change the heart. Lust? Change the heart. Overeating? Change the heart. We’ve gotten really good at establishing rules (don’t do this, do that) to avoid the temptations and failures, but we still don’t change the heart motivation, and the part of us that drives our desire for wrong things is still broken.

The thing that struck me was when he dropped a classic C.S. Lewis quote about our desires not being too strong, but too weak. We have weak desires for the right things. If our desire to follow God in obedience was stronger we wouldn’t be so apt to doing silly and destructive things to feed the cravings of our soul.

Driscoll said a question he gets a lot from people is, “don’t you think you’re missing out?” As though being a Christian means you can’t do a lot of really fun things. It got me thinking, what am I missing out on?

• Binge drinking, drunkenness, and puking
• Promiscuity
• Conflict/distrust with my wife
• Excessive self-consciousness
• The emptiness that follows filling whatever craving I have in hopes that it finally satisfies me

I’ve been there, and I can say I’m not missing out on anything. Seems like the world is the one missing out. I pray God would give me stronger desires for the right things.

Well, we’re back in good ol Iowa after a long, LOVELY vacation in California! We were so blessed to be able to go and we made sure that every morning before we left the hotel, we prayed together. Prayed that we would have patience with one another (as NEITHER of us knew our way around), grace, a joyful attitude, gratefulness, the list goes on and on. And you know what? Our days were FILLED with grace and laughter and patience and love.  It was a wonderful thing.

Now, for some highlights:

SAN FRAN

• Our hotel was a couple steps away from a Fresh store. If you are unfamiliar with these products, please run RUN to your nearest Sephora (or if you’re lucky enough to have  a Fresh STORE) and pick up their Sugar Lemon or Sugar Lychee sprays and lotions. Heaven!!! Even the shop itself is sweet beyond belief. It looked like how I would decorate a baby girl nursery/how Chris would design a sweet wedding invitation.
• Drizzly, rainy, cool weather. I got to wear my new Keens and my new scarf and Chris always looks dashing in his hats. Loved it. Felt like May.
• Fisherman’s Wharf. Seals are really loud, obnoxious creatures, aren’t they? HEAPS of them were being obese lazy punks and just SPRAWLED on a barge right outside a restaurant. They barely moved when a piece of bread came flying at their heads from the balcony. If they couldn’t reach it with their tongues, they wouldn’t get it. Ugh. AND they were loud and being dumb. I just may have a video of Christopher imitating them. Oscar.
• ALCATRAZ!!! Delightfully creepy! SPEAKING of creepy, did you know there was an inmate on Alcatraz named “Creepy” Karpis? And why was he called Creepy, you ask? Well, my friends, he walked around on his tiptoes. ALL THE TIME. *Shudder* The audio tour was somewhat disturbing, as they added sound effects and background noise to the narrarators’ stories. Men hollering, a “stabbing”, knives clanking, you get the idea.
• The Bart transportation system. Subway of sorts, train of sorts. We had a lovely experience on the Bart on the way to see the Eagleses. Eagles’. Eagless.  We climbed aboard and saw two cops standing in front of a woman who was literally pouting, arms crossed, lip out, slumped in her chair. As we were boarding, the cops were saying to her, “If you don’t quiet down, you’ll have to leave! Ma’am…MA’AM!!” She was grumbling about something.
  The next stop, the cops left. Now, mind you, as I led the way onto the Bart, I quickly chose the seats closest to the doors. Nearest to the cops. Because what safer place to be than by a cop? Right? Now, as the cops departed, I suddenly realized, we were sitting across the aisle from a woman WHO WAS BEING REPRIMANDED BY POLICE OFFICERS! Greeeeat…maybe she’ll just pout the rest of the way there. Hmm. 5, maybe 6 minutes passed and Homegirl starts rockin back and forth, her voice growing louder and louder. Most of her rant was unintelligable, but what we gathered was something about the end times, “casting the first lot”, Jesus, and Lord save me, DEMONS. Oh boy. I stared at Chris’ cheek, pretending to be deep in conversation with him. At one (foolish) point, I looked over at her and she was LEANED FORWARD in her chair, her Crazy Eyes boring right into mine. She said something (again, I couldn’t understand her) TO me and I just shook my head, pointed to my ear, and shrugged, like, “Sorry! I’d LOVE to chat, but it’s just too darn loud in here!” Oh mercy. As SOON as the Bart slowed at the next stop, Chris and I (and every other person in our car!) got up to leave! That’s weird! We’re ALL getting off at the Lake Merritt stop? WEIRD!!! What a coincidence!! (We were headed to Fremont, actually).  As we were leaving, Homegirl shouted, “EVERYONE’S going to the LAKE!!!!!!” Yes, yes we are.
• Pat & Marieta Boberg. Chris’ childhood friend and his LOVELY wife, took us around their town (their town for not much longer! Yay Iowa!). Lombard St (crazy twisty) was panic-inducing. And Limon, DELICIOUS Peruvian tapas. Who’da thunk??
• And finally, our dear lovely newlywed friends, Nathan and Jessica Eagles. Married just a couple days over one month, they are sweetness and light. We spent a FULL day with them, started with their church in Fremont, had lunch, went to Haight Ashbury (what is that I smell? INCENSE? nooo…….), H&M, and a cutie little restaurant for dinner. We couldn’t get enough, so Monday night, we invited them to come get drinks with us at Edinborough’s Castle, a dive pub in downtown San Fran.  We loved being with them! Thanks for hanging out with us!

I have to do work now…booo….I’ll write about L.A. later on!! WOOOOHOOO!!! And maybe smarty pants Christopher can add pics. I, personally, cannot do it.